Illustration Roz Streeten

Renée Elliott, founder of Planet Organic, lives the ultimate city organic life. Serena Fokschaner finds out what motivated Renée to found the health food shop and how she balances serious nutritious eating and a young family.

It is Tuesday and Renée Elliott is in her favourite spot, the tiny kitchen of her West London mews house, preparing lunch for her two-year-old son, Nicholas. Today it’s organic cucumber and carrots, sardines in organic oil and Kamut pasta.

Raised in the States, Renée learnt her cooking skills from her mother and, like her culinary hero, Jamie Oliver, she believes that education is the key to improving our eating habits. As a child Renée was encouraged to sample all kinds of food: ‘My mother was from New Orleans so it was Creole and French dishes. She’d say “Try it with an open mind” and I am teaching my children that.’

As a mother of two (her daughter, Jessie, is 4), she works hard to ensure her children have a good diet but when they go to parties they ‘can eat what they like. I don’t want food to become an issue.’ However when Renée throws a kid’s party, goodie bags are additive free: chocolate-covered apricots, mini rice cakes and cereal bars.

Renée always cooks ‘from scratch’, using only as much as is needed for a meal, with fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her daughter’s lunch box often includes a hot thermos of pasta with different vegetables. These are just three of her favourite family recipes.

Wholemeal Pancakes

Serves 4 children
2 1/4 cups (262g) whole spelt or wholemeal flour
1 egg, well beaten
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) vanilla rice milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk and oil. Mix the dry into the wet and whisk. Add chopped fruit if desired, like banana, blueberry or strawberry.

Heat griddle until water droplets sizzle gently or frying pan until butter is hot. It is important the pan is hot – pancake should sizzle gently as it lands – or the pancake will spread too thin.

Spoon batter by large serving-spoonful on to griddle/frying pan. Turn when bubbles show through. When you flip it over, it should be light brown. Cook briefly on the other side - until lightly browned.

Serve pancakes American-style in stacks of two with butter between them and maple syrupover the top – or British-style with jam or lemon and sugar.

Spelt loaf

Makes one large loaf
This recipe proves that bread-making is a cinch. I love this loaf because the long, slow fermentation in the fridge makes the bread more digestible and gives a more complex flavour. You’ll never bother with white bread again.

680g wholemeal spelt flour
1 sachet dried yeast
1 tablespoon salt
13 fl oz warm water
1oz Kefir or live, plain yoghurt
2 teaspoons olive oil

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, dried yeast and salt. In a measuring jug, pour the warm water and mix in the Kefir/yoghurt. Pour the water mixture into the flour mixture and mix together with your hands. When it starts to come together, start kneading on a cool surface. Stretch it away from you, gather it back, do a quarter turn and repeat. It may seem dry at first. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. If the bread is too sticky, add a little flour; if too dry, add a little more water.

Put the dough in an oiled bowl, rubbing olive oil on the surface of the dough. Place a damp towel on the dough and put it in the fridge.

24 hours later, take the bread out and place on a surface. Punch it down thoroughly, knead for a minute, form a ball, put it back in the bowl, cover it again and return to the fridge.

The next day, place on a surface, punch it down, knead for one minute, form into a ball and place on a buttered baking sheets. Cover and let rise for one hour. Bake at 220°C for 10 mins, then lower temperature to 190°C and bake for another 20 mins. Alteratively, divide dough into three pizza base portions.

Cheesy bake

Serves 6
This is a quick and delicious dish for adults and kids. If you have very little ones, mash the pine nuts after roasting so you don’t worry about children chewing them properly.

Half a pint of brown rice, cooked for 45 minutes with 1 tablespoon bouillon (Marigold organic) and one pint of water.
1/3 cut pine nuts, roasted
1 large onion, finely chopped
6oz frozen spinach, thawed
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 large eggs, beaten
8oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt

Mix all the ingredients together. Grease a baking pan and cook at 200°C for 45 minutes until it is bubbling in the middle and lightly browned. If it is browning too quickly, cover with foil.

For variation, reduce the spinach to 5oz and mix in a tin of chopped artichoke hearts. Serve with a chopped cucumber/avocado/cherry tomato salad.

Renée’s store cupboard essentials

Kefir A cultured, enzyme-rich food filled with friendly micro-organisms and natural yeasts that help balance your ‘inner eco-system’. More nutritious and therapeutic than yoghurt, it supplies protein, essential minerals and valuable B vitamins. I use it to soak porridge, grains, beans and bread to make them more digestible and nutritious.

Kamut pasta Higher in protein, minerals & amino acids, an excellent substitute for wheat intolerance.

Tahini Ground sesame seeds and a source of calcium, protein and B vitamins. Tahini is a good source of essential fatty acids. I mix a spoon in rice or use it on toast.

Nori A sea vegetable that has been dried and pressed into thin sheets. It is rich in vitamins A, B and C, and is abundant in a wide range of nutrients, most notably calcium and iron. I sprinkle nori flakes on to rice or pasta for added nutrition.

Rice vinegar A lighter vinegar made from brown rice.

Fish 4 Life Sardines in organic oil. The best fish you can eat. Sardines are low in pollutants because they are small and at the bottom of the fish food chain.