Because it’s quite tart, you may be surprised to learn that this nutritious vegetable – unless you’re in the US, where it’s classified as a fruit – is just as good in sweet and savoury dishes. The classic rhubarb dish, which rose to fame in the UK, is the desert rhubarb crumble.

Below you’ll find a savoury and sweet recipe, plus links to lots more…

Rhubarb Sponge Pudding

This delicious desert serves four and takes around 15mins to prepare and 45mins to cook.

Heat oven to 180°C. Beat 100g soft butter and 100g caster sugar in a bowl until light and creamy. Add 2 large eggs one at a time, beating well.

Gently fold in 100g of sifted self-raising flour, until you have a slightly creamy liquid batter.

Cut 500g of ripe rhubarb stalks into 2cm lengths, throwing away the leaves. Arrange loosely in a greased 1l pie or baking dish, and scatter with 100g of extra caster sugar.

Spoon the batter mixture on top of the fruit in clumps, then smooth them out to cover the rhubarb. Bake for 45mins, or until the topping is golden and cake-like. Serve with cream.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Rhubarb Salsa

Place 1 boned leg of lamb on a bed of carrots (peeled and cut lengthways) in a roasting dish. Combine 100g of honey, 2 cloves of garlic and 1tbsp of red wine vinegar over heat. Once combined, brush over the lamb.

Roast lamb at 180ºC for 2-3hrs, brushing occasionally with any remaining glaze mixture. Once cooked, remove from the oven, place on a tray and leave for 10-15mins before carving.

In a stainless steel saucepan, combine all the salsa ingredients – 1 chopped onion, 100g of raisins, 2 chopped red chillies, 1/2tsp of ground cardamon, and 10 sticks of finely sliced rhubarb.

Cook slowly over a low to medium heat for 5mins, while stirring. Place a lid on the saucepan and cook over a low heat for 5mins more. Remove the lid and turn up the heat to boil off excess liquid. Remove from the heat and serve at room temperature.

More rhubarb recipes

Plus check out Delia Smith’s fabulous Rhubarb and Almond Crumble

Gluten-free Girl and the Chef’s rhubarb recipes

…and click here for even more rhubarb recipes…

Coffee shops
Coffee shops seem to be everywhere these days, enticing you in with tempting smells and the promise of a place to rest your legs. Next time you decide to pop in for a ‘quick’ coffee, or a well earned sit down, remember that muffins can easily pack in an astonishing 500cals and 26g of fat. You would be better off buying a standard-sized plain croissant with 250cals (share it if it’s a bumper sized one and avoid the luxury almond types, which pack 480cals each).

Fast food
When you’re out and the only option is fast food lunches, this doesn’t have to just mean burgers, fries and milkshakes – which, incredibly, notch up around 1,300 calories and 60g of fat and can definitely lead to a Super Size You.

Opt instead for a Subway Turkey breast with ham at 290cals, a Burger King Hamburger, also 290cals, or a portion of fish and chips. Believe it or not, splitting a small cod in batter and a potion of chips with a friend will keep your intake down to around 320cals each.

Bars
Usually the more ‘back to basics’ you go, the better. A roast chicken lunch has around 500cals, while a big ham salad has about 400cals. Both make much better choices than a ploughman’s with a pork pie (800cals) or a shepherd’s pie and chips (1,077 cals).

Seaside cafés
A ‘Full-Monty All Day Breakfast’ can give you the equivalent of two meals worth of calorific intake, packing in 1,200cals in one go. Instead, go for scrambled eggs with grilled tomatoes at 420cals and 29g fat. Alternatively, choose grilled mushrooms with grilled lean bacon (250cals) or simply a large serving of baked beans on toast (355cals).

There are also ways to eat healthily on holiday:
Click here for tips on healthy eating in Greece
Click here for tips on healthy eating in Italy

Teenagers are particularly keen on fast food, and often meet in cafés and burger joints. Click here for five ways to get them to eat out healthily.

Eating seasonally not only supports UK growers, but also cuts down on your food air miles. There also every chance that, just like Delia’s asparagus, it will taste far fresher and, indeed, better than imported produce.

So what’s in season right now? On top of asparagus, here’s a top 10 to get you started, courtesy of the Vital to Health and Wellness blog

1. Apricots
Although many people enjoy dried apricots, they are also delicious served fresh, especially when chopped in a salad.

2. Artichoke
They are one of the highest antioxidant vegetables around. To prepare an artichoke, tear off the outside leaves. Cut off the stems tips of the leaves and steam them in the microwave – serve drizzled with low-fat Italian dressing. Microwaving time depends on the amount. A large artichoke can take about 7mins, a small one only about 2 to 3mins.

3. Broccoli
Broccoli is always a good choice, because it’s loaded with antioxidants and is high in fibre. You can serve it steamed or sautéed, or try it raw in salads or for a crunchy snack. Broccoli is chocked full of essential vitamins and calcium for bone health.

4. Chives
Chives are one of the many seasonal herbs that are especially good in the spring.

5. Fennel
Around in early spring as well as summer and autumn, fennel has a delicious slight liquorice flavour and adds a unique taste and crunch to salads. Wonderful eaten raw!

6. Greens
Spring greens include Swiss chard, mustard greens and collard greens. Use them in a salad for a wonderful springtime treat. Don’t hide their natural flavours under a heavy dressing. Instead, mix a splash of lemon juice with a high-quality olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.

7. Mango
Mangos are a wonderful treat just by themselves or mixed in a mango salsa and used on fish or chicken for extra flavour.

8. Oranges
Oranges are always a refreshing treat and easy to pack along on hikes or other outdoor ventures.

9. Spinach
Try spinach in place of lettuce in sandwiches, on burgers or in salads, or sauté spinach to serve as a side dish or in pasta.

10. Strawberries.
Strawberries are available through early summer, but may be sweetest in spring. Try putting strawberries on a spinach salad with a sweet dressing for a delightful lunch.

So what do you think about seasonal produce? And what are your favourites? Plus feel free to share any of your seasonal recipes!

Share your thoughts and tips and join the debate by becoming an Ador Facebook fan at http://tinyurl.com/2ufk7qc

Click here for proof that seasonal food can save you money, plus a delicious celery soup recipe

Find out how seasonal food can help you detox and control your weight with the Ador Spring Clean Diet

Whether men are just more cowardly or more sensible is your call, but over half of males questioned said they’d rather jog off those pounds, because surgery is more painful than getting active.

What do we think? That surgery may give fairly instant results, but if you go back to your old eating habits, you’ll pile the weight back on. And then have to go through the whole expensive, uncomfortable and potentially dangerous shebang all over again.

The whole point is that eating well doesn’t mean giving up everything you love. It just means eating in moderation and still having a bit of what you fancy.

When what you fancy is chocolate, you can do that with a 35g bar of Ador. What’s more, it has the added benefit of containing pine nut oil which helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer – as do our oat bars.

They look great, taste great and are whole lot more enjoyable than the surgeon’s knife.

Click here for more on the research.

Click here for more about the benefits and drawbacks of cosmetic surgery.

But don’t just sit back and give in to the bugs. By eating the right things you can actually fight back and boost your immunity – and I don’t mean vitamin pills. Sure, they have their place, but sort out your diet and you’ll stand a far better chance of stopping bacteria and viruses from taking hold and ruining your spring.

Seasonal vegetables are a good start, with bright orange and dark green varieties top of your list, as they convert into vitamin A. So go for carrots, spinach, cabbage and pumpkins, supported by protein-rich foods like meat, eggs, fish, pulse vegetables and nuts.

What’s more, ignore your friends’ protests and pile on the garlic – the most raw the better. It has legendary infection-fighting properties, with the added advantage of helping you get a seat on the tube in the rush hour, or whatever your preferred mode of public transport may be.

Finally, another favourite that boosts your resistance to infections is shiitake mushrooms, thanks to the presence of the supernutrient lentinan.

Balancing your diet well during winter and early spring can lay the groundwork for a healthier year.

Click here for more ways to eat to beat the bugs.

… and if you do pick up a bug, click here for your guide to which supplements and herbal remedies can speed up your recovery.

Meanwhile, click here to find out why broccoli is a great immunity booster and can help you live longer.

Plus click here for more immunity boosting food news.

From healthy eating brands like us, to a brilliant collection of food bloggers and lots of people in search of great things to eat, Twitter is brimming with a marvelous collection of food-related comments, information and tips.

Although pretty new to the social media foodie scene, we hope that our mix of observations, articles, tips and recipes is adding to the debate.

In fact, we think we’ve tapped into a hot topic. One subject close to all foodies’ hearts… and stomachs… is how to control their obsession in order to prevent piling on the pounds or eating unhealthily.

A number of tweeters, led by the Love Food Love Drink e-zine, were recently considering which foods help to keep you full so you can avoid over-snacking between meals. Here’s the fascinating Twitter strand…

Luvfoodluvdrink: Is it just me or do eating apples make you really really hungry?

Beckpaskin: @luvfoodluvdrink – YES! But I’ve found that if you eat some protein with an apple (some nuts, cheese, glass of milk) it fills you up nicely.

JournoBird: @luvfoodluvdrink – I think it’s the acid. Always makes your belly rumble, especially during important meetings!

Luvfoodluvdrink: @BeckyPaskin – …or sandwich. My apple was supposed to be a mid-morning snack, but I ended up eating my lunch by 12. Oh well, two lunches today!

Beckpaskin: @luvfoodluvdrink – Schoolboy error. Still, you could do worse than have two lunches in a day!

Luvfoodluvdrink: @JournoBird @BeckyPaskin – Sandwich didn’t work, so am testing an @AdorFood choc bar. Apparently suppresses hunger. Tastes good too!

So there you have it. A tweeting session about food that keeps you full reaches its logical conclusion – Ador snacks!

We just love tweeting foodies!

Follow JournoBird Jamie Cleary on Twitter, who apparently loves food, loves wine, loves people, loves life.

Becky Paskin writes and blogs for BigHospitality.com

luvfoodluvdrink is the Twitter moniker for top foodie website LoveFoodLoveDrink

Join the food debate on our Facebook discussion page

One of the most popular pledges is to lose weight and eat more healthily, yet new research from Total Greek Yoghurt and Mumsnet suggests that we’re not too successful at this.

One of the biggest enemies to successful dieting is craving calorific food, according to the survey. Almost 80% of respondents said the danger zones were mid-morning, mid-afternoon and late evening.

This means that finding out when you’re most vulnerable to a snack attack can be a major factor in helping you stick to your slimming regime. And once you’ve identified your weak point, the new trend for food that keeps you fuller for longer could be your ultimate weapon for dealing with the problem.

The usual snacks that people indulge in so satisfy their cravings will simply leave you wanting more, meaning you’ll probably scoff something else soon after. But Ador’s Swiss chocolate and oatbar ranges only contain 175 calories a bar and include a natural ingredient that fills you up. This calms your cravings and helps you get to your next meal with serial snacking. This makes them perfect for the mid-morning and mid-afternoon danger zones.

To prevent late night cravings, the answer could be Marks & Spencer’s new Simply Fuller Longer range, which features ready meals that are high protein to keep you full right up to when you go to bed.

Share your tricks for sticking to your diet with our readers.

Click here for more on the Mumsnet survey.

Plus keep up to day with the latest women’s issues on the Mumsnet blogs.

Meanwhile, click here to become our Facebook fan and you’ll receive free healthy meal and snack recipes every day.

Jenni reportedly says that HCG allows her to survive on just tea or coffee for breakfast, a small piece of chicken, spinach, a breadstick and grapefruit for lunch and a melba toast, tiny bit of crab and a few strawberries for dinner.

If like most people, including us, you think that HCG or not, this little food would drive you to distraction, not to mention the biscuit tin, you are probably up for more realistic ways of staving off hunger pangs.

Ador chocolate contains extracts of pine nut oil, which have a natural ability to switch off your hunger so you can enjoy a delicious but small bar of Swiss chocolate without craving more. Meanwhile, Ador oat bars work by using a clever natural ingredient called Fabuless, which makes you feel full by making your body think it’s eaten more calories than it actually has.

So there’s no need for expensive supplements to curb your appetite. You can do it with great-tasting food.

Tell us what you think about HCG? And what diet plans do you think are most effective?

Click here to read more about Jenni Farley’s diet

Click here for more on HCG

There’s always a rush to book into your favourite restaurant. However, when you get there you find that not only have the prices been hiked especially for Valentines Day, but also that there are two sittings and you either have to down your meal quickly and get out or eat late. Neither of which is very romantic, as all you really want to do is have a relaxing evening with the one you love. What’s more, often there’s a restrictive set menu, so you lose out on a number of fronts.

Then there’s chocolate. Every brand on earth seems to have come up with something special to give your Valentine – and once again the prices tend to be ‘special’ too. From organic Green & Blacks to Cadbury’s (or should we say Kraft’s), they are all at it.

The problem is that this is the time when many people have started the year with the good intentions of getting fitter and healthier. And this sudden focus on food could seriously derail all your hard work. So here are some tips to take the calories and the expense out of Valentines Day, so you can actually enjoy it in the way you were meant to.

As far as the restaurant rip off goes, if you are keen to eat out to celebrate your love for each other, go on another day – say 13 or 15 February. You’ll find it’s quieter, you have a greater menu choice and the price is right. Then have a romantic dinner in on Valentines Day itself. Also, if you are keen to control your weight, don’t let that keep you indoors. Simply go for healthier menu options and smaller portion sizes. Click here for more tips on eating out healthily.

As for gifts, try to steer your partner away from getting you chocolates. Why? Because they are packed with calories. Scoff a 250g box of Guylian Belgian Seashells, and you’re looking at 1,365 calories! Or the wonderful Hotel Chocolat Love Selection Box (see what they’ve done there) contains 30 chocs and 1,500 calories. Meanwhile, a Cadbury’s Milk Tray 400g box packs in nearly 2,000 calories – eek!

There are plenty more calorie-free presents around that are just as satisfying and won’t pile on the pounds. Rather than eating chocolates, you could be beautifying yourself with the Organic Pharmacy Party Girl gift box, for £65. Or enjoying a three-part massage that you’ve created yourself at the Tripletz website.

Plus you can still enjoy delicious Swiss chocolate on Valentines day guilt-free by getting your partner to slip in an Ador 30g, 175 calorie bar, which also includes natural pine nut oil to keep you fuller for longer.

Click here for more calorie-free Valentine gift ideas…

Click here For for Valentine gift ideas for men

Click here for some great value options

THE VALENTINES DAY CALORIE MASSACRE

Counting the calories of the big sellers…

Hotel Chocolat Love Selection Box
30 chocolates 1,500 calories

Green & Black’s Organic Luxury Assortment
200g 970 calories

Cadbury’s Roses Box
220g 660 calories

Milk Tray Chocolate Box
400g 1,940 calories

Nestle Dairy Box
100g 543 calories

Thornton’s Moments
250g 1,018 calories

Guylian Belgian Seashells
250g 1,365 calories

Black Magic Box
188g 863 calories

Cadbury’s Koko Truffles
200g 1,160 calories

Celebration’s Box
420g 2,184 calories

Kicking off with Blue Monday, 22 January (how dare they name the most depressing day of the year after a classic New Order track!), last week was when people’s New Year resolutions tumbled like trees in a hurricane. The combination of cold weather, grey skies, post New Year abstinence and a flurry of pesky credit card bills has everyone running for the duvet with a plate of their favourite comfort food.

In fact, a Cardiff University psychologist has actually devised a formula that shows 22 January as the most depressing day in the calendar. The man himself, Dr Cliff Arnall, has come up with an equation that takes into account six factors: weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since failing our New Year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and the feeling of a need to take action.

And taking action is certainly what you need to do to pull yourself out of the doldrums. The trouble is, that plate of comfort food probably won’t help. However, the good news is that you can eat yourself happier – and healthier. So pump up your iron levels with protein, breakfast on slow-release carbohydrates, fill yourself with folic acid, open up to omega 3 and boost your mood with berries. Do this and it could be the start of a wonderful friendship with the food that really matters, and your route to a healthier lifestyle.

Check out our feature Lift Your Mood With Food for more details…

Share your seasonal blues experiences at Seasonal Affective Disorder Support’s Journal

Plus click here for more tips on relieving seasonal affective disorder

And finally, click here for Sleep Strategies for Seasonal Affective Disorder Sufferers