Mary Berry, Nigella Lawson, Raymond Blanc and actress-turned-lifestyle-guru Gwyneth Paltrow have joined up with a host of other celebrity chefs to create a cookbook for people suffering from cancer. Other famous names taking part in the Royal Marsden book full of healthy recipes include award-winning author and Ceviche owner Martin Morales, 2005 Masterchef winner and Mexican chain Wahaca founder Thomasina Miers, as well as restaurateur and food writer Prue Leith, Paul McCartney's daughter Mary McCartney, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Angela Hartnett and internet sensation Jack Monroe.
Nigella's cauliflower, garlic and tumeric soup
Many of the co-authors' lives have been touched by cancer: Nigella's first husband, journalist John Diamond, died at the Royal Marsden in 2001, while Mary's mother Linda died from breast cancer in the US in 1998.
The Royal Marsden Cancer Cookbook contains delicious recipes that will support and nourish those receiving cancer treatment as well as stimulate the tastebuds, as cancer treatment can leave patients losing their appetite.
Mary Berry's Sunday orange spice cake
Nigella's recipe is for cauliflower, garlic and tumeric soup, that, she writes in the book, is: "Packed full of vegetables and phytonutrients, it is undeniably true this soup is both soothing and bolstering as well as easy and satisfying to eat."Baking queen Mary Berry naturally contributes a fresh Sunday orange spice cake with orange buttercream filling while Martin Morales offers a quinoa, avocado, chilli and honey salad with coriander and lime.
Prue Leith's muscavado heaven
Prue Leith's muscavado heaven is "the easiest dessert you will ever make" and Thomasina's warm spiced lentils and rice with chicken livers and pomegranate is, she writes, "a homely, deeply restorative dish that takes very little time to make".Consultant dietician at the specialist cancer hospital, Dr Clare Shaw said: "There is no 'special diet' for people with cancer, but a healthy diet is vital when going through treatment and can be preventative afterwards.
Martin Morales offers a quinoa, avocado, chilli and honey salad
Questions such as "What can I eat to help my nails and hair?", and tables showing which recipes have the highest vitamin and mineral content show readers what recipes are best suited to them at certain moments during treatment.
Fifty per cent of royalties from the book will be donated to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Published by Kyle Books and priced at £19.99, out now.
