Q. How do I keep veg staying green when I cook them?

Lynn, Harborne

A. The best way to keep vegetables green is what we call big pot blanching – which basically means cooking vegetables in the biggest pot you have in lots of water and lots of salt. It should almost taste like the sea.

Bring the water and salt to a very fast boil and then add your chosen veg. The secret is that when you add the relative amount of veg, the water does not lose its temperature.

The faster vegetables are cooked the greener they become.

Final stage – to stop veg from cooking plung into a bowl of iced water and leave until chilled, drain and store until ready to be used, then reheat in boiling water for around 30 seconds.