When intermittent fasting took off as the new diet trend, I shuddered. Not eating? Starving from breakfast to supper amounts to misery in my eyes. Thankfully, I didn’t feel the need to jump on this particular bandwagon because at 60-plus (or 63 to be precise) I am the same weight today as I was at the age of 20. Of course my body has changed, but I am simply grateful that I am still a size 8, and more to the point that I don’t diet.

For years I have followed a low-carb lifestyle, which as well as being completely delicious gets a gold star for being extremely healthy. It is not so much about giving foods up (refined sugar aside, which includes white bread, white pasta, and white rice) as rebalancing how you eat. I eat lots of low-sugar vegetables and fruits, along with plenty of protein, which is the key to not feeling hungry.

The idea is that a protein-rich diet satisfies you for longer than empty, ultra-processed calories will. It therefore creates its own equilibrium and cravings for more food diminish. If I want a snack, I aim for something protein-rich: a small handful of nuts, egg mayonnaise in a lettuce cup, or a sliver of chicken, which will ward off hunger for much longer than that chocolate chip cookie.

Starchy carbs are fine providing they are ‘whole’ grains such as quinoa, spelt or brown rice, but in small quantities mixed with plenty of green vegetables, which immediately cuts down on the sugar content. And there are plenty of high-protein pastas available today.

I eat healthy oils, too, in moderation (for example, cold-pressed rapeseed and extra virgin olive oil), being mindful that a tablespoon of oil contains 135 calories, and that an extra drizzle on your Italian-inspired supper can quickly add in unnecessary energy.

Many diet trends are designed for short-term weight loss, and yes, you can tailor a low carb diet to shed the kilos, but equally it is brilliant for maintaining your ideal weight in the long term. No more yoyo-ing. So here are some of my favourite recipes which will give you an idea of how delicious this way of eating can be. Both my books Low Carb Revolution and Low Carb Express are full of such recipes if you feel like taking it further.

Coconut almond bread

Makes 1 loaf. Serves 8 (approx. 16 slices)

This is my go-to loaf. With the texture of cornbread, it is tender, moist, can be whipped up at the speed of a muffin and wheeled out whenever the occasion calls for a slice. Exceptionally nutritious, each slice translates to half an egg and a handful of almonds, and it sustains as readily as you might imagine.

200g ground almonds 

40g coconut flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder, sifted

1/3 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, sifted

A large pinch of fine sea salt

7 large eggs

40g coconut oil, melted, plus extra for greasing

1 generous tablespoon runny honey

1½ tablespoons cider vinegar

Golden linseeds, for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 170C fan/190C electric/gas mark 5. Combine the ground almonds, coconut flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the remaining wet ingredients together in another large bowl, then pour these over the dry ingredients and beat or whisk until smooth.

Liberally grease a 450g non-stick loaf tin with melted coconut oil, transfer the mixture, smoothing the top. Dust with seeds if wished and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until golden and shrinking from the sides. Run a knife around the edge and turn out on to a wire rack or board to cool, standing the loaf the right way up.

Tuna Nicoise

Serves 6

This multi-tasker is lovely spooned over roasted veg or inside little lettuce leaves. You could also give it the full Nicoise treatment with some cooked green beans, boiled egg and anchovies.

2 x 120g cans ‘no drain’ tuna

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon finely chopped medium-hot red chilli

100g pitted green and black olives, halved

150g cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

2 large handfuls of coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Sea salt, black pepper

Coarsely flake the tuna into a large bowl, and gently dress with the olive oil, lemon juice and a little seasoning. Mix in the chilli, olives, tomatoes and parsley. Cover and chill until required. Best on the day, but perfectly acceptable the day after too.

These pizza-style omelettes have taken my kitchen by storm, especially if I am eating alone or when there are just two of us. Like all the best pizzas they are more about the goodies on top than the base – a thin and delicate omelette that is golden underneath and tender and creamy in the middle. They take all of five minutes to cook and will lend themselves to any melange of cheese, olives, roasted veg and cured meats, in true pizza style, and the fridge is likely to offer all manner of scenarios on this score.

Pizza omelettes 

Pizza omelette with tomato and gruyere

Serves 2 as a main course, 3 as a snack

100g cherry tomatoes, quartered

3 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

Approx. 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for cooking

3 medium eggs

75g coarsely grated Gruyere

Sea salt, black pepper

Have all the ingredients prepped and at the ready. Toss the tomatoes and spring onions in a small bowl with a tablespoon of oil, and whisk the eggs with a little seasoning in another small bowl.

Heat the grill, and also a 24cm non-stick frying pan with a heatproof handle over a medium heat for a few minutes. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil over the base of the pan, then tip in the eggs and swirl to coat the base. Cook for 1–2 minutes until puffy around the edges and golden underneath, and at the same time scatter over the cheese, then the tomato and spring onion. Pop under the grill for 2–3 minutes or until golden and sizzling. Serve straight away, or while it is still warm.

Edamame fettuccine with salsa crudo

Serves 2

You can use any high-protein noodle here. Treat it as a basic and spread the pleasure with parmesan shavings, crumbled feta, chopped walnuts, toasted pine nuts and the like.

150g very ripe cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 heaped tablespoon finely chopped shallot

1 tablespoon finely chopped medium-hot red chilli

75g edamame and mung bean fettuccine

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

4 heaped tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to serve

Sea salt, black pepper

Place the tomatoes in a large bowl, season generously with salt, then mix in the shallot and chilli and set aside.

Bring a medium pan of salted water to the boil, add the pasta to the pan, stir to separate the strands and cook until just tender, sometimes these pasta need less than the packet instructions suggest I find. Drain the pasta into a sieve or colander quite thoroughly.

Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and parsley to the tomatoes and stir. Add the drained pasta and toss to mix. Season to taste with a little more salt and some black pepper, and serve scattered with a little extra parsley.

Muhammara

Serves 6

Any unroasted nuts can be used here, for speed buy them ready-shelled. Equally, jars of roasted peppers make this a five-minute task, ideally ones that are only lightly vinegared and seasoned, such as Sacla.

100g shelled walnuts

1 teaspoon finely chopped medium-hot red chilli

1/4 garlic clove, peeled

1x approx. 300g jar roasted peppers (e.g. Sacla), drained

½ teaspoon honey

1 level teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve

Finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Put the walnuts, chilli and garlic in a food processor and whizz to a crumb-like consistency, without reducing them to a paste. Transfer this to a medium bowl. Add the peppers, honey and cumin to the food processor and reduce to a puree, then add the olive oil. Add this to the nuts and blend. Transfer to one or two shallow bowls. Drizzle over a little more oil and scatter with parsley. Cover and chill until required. It will keep for several days.

One-pot fillet-o-fish

Serves 2

Delicious with any meaty white fish.

400g spinach, washed

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 fat spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

125g chestnut or wild mushrooms, trimmed and sliced or torn

Freshly grated nutmeg

150g cherry tomatoes, halved

250–300g skinned hake fillet

Coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Sea salt, black pepper

To serve

2 heaped teaspoons mayonnaise

2 heaped teaspoons small (non-pareil) capers, rinsed

Put the washed spinach in a large saucepan, cover and steam over a gentle heat for 10 minutes until it collapses, stirring halfway through. Drain into a sieve or colander and press out the excess liquid using a potato masher.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium–low heat and fry the spring onions for a couple of minutes until softened, stirring frequently. Add the mushrooms, and continue to fry for a further couple of minutes until these too soften, again stirring now and again. Should any liquid be given out, continue to cook until this evaporates. Stir in the spinach and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper and heat through. 

Stir in the tomatoes, lay the fish on top and season, then cover the pan and cook over a low heat for 5–10 minutes (depending on whether you are cooking individual fillets or one large one), until the fish has lost its translucency. Serve scattered with parsley, accompanied by mayonnaise and capers.

Spicy fried chicken

Serves 2

These spicy fried chicken strips are slightly crisp with a spicy coating. Good with young lettuce leaves and a splodge of mayo, or a simple guacamole and sliced tomato salad.

300g skinless free-range chicken fillets

1 heaped tablespoon soya flour

1 heaped teaspoon garam masala

1 heaped teaspoon Maldon sea salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

10g unsalted butter

To serve

Coarsely chopped coriander

Lemon wedges

Cut out any visible white tendon from the underside of the chicken fillets. Slice the fillet across into strips about 1.5cm thick. Combine the flour and garam masala with the salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces and toss to coat them.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat for a few minutes, add half the olive oil and half the butter and fry half the chicken strips for 1–2 minutes on one side until golden, and about 1 minute on the other side. Drain on a double thickness of kitchen paper, scrape out the pan, add the remaining olive oil and butter and cook the second batch in the same way. Transfer to a plate, scatter with coriander and accompany with lemon wedges.

Lamb steaks with broccoli mash

Serves 4

Here a rustic broccoli mash stands in lieu of potatoes.

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4x approx. 150g lamb steaks, 2–3cm thick

600g broccoli florets

25g salted butter

25g pine nuts

2 tablespoons oregano or marjoram leaves, or 2 teaspoons coarsely chopped rosemary

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

4 sun-dried tomato halves, sliced

Sea salt, black pepper

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, season the steaks either side and fry for about 5 minutes in total until golden, a slight give to them without being too squashy will indicate they are medium-rare. Then turn them on their sides to colour the fat, and remove to a warm plate to rest for a few minutes.

Having put the steaks on, boil the broccoli for about 6 minutes until tender, then drain it into a colander and leave for a few minutes to steam dry. Whizz to a textured purée in a food processor with the butter and some seasoning.

Drain the fat off the frying pan, add a tablespoon of oil to the pan and fry the pine nuts and herbs until lightly golden, stirring frequently, then add the balsamic vinegar and sizzle to reduce by half. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons of oil and the sun-dried tomatoes, which should warm through. Serve this spooned over the lamb and broccoli.

Basil burgers with tzatziki

Serves 4

For those times when only a burger will answer the call. You could vary the basil with some mint, flat-leaf parsley or chives.

8 small crisp lettuce leaves

100g tzatziki

4 tomatoes, thinly sliced across, core slice discarded

Burgers

50g basil leaves

1 banana shallot, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon sumac

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

500–600g minced beef or lamb

Sea salt, black pepper

Put all the burger ingredients except the lamb in a food processor and reduce to a coarse purée. Blend this with the lamb in a large bowl and form into 8 burgers, by shaping balls of the mixture the size of a clementine. For the neatest results, press them into a 9–10cm cutter. (These can be made well in advance, in which case cover and chill them.)

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry the burgers in batches for about 2 minutes on each side until golden and firm when pressed, draining the fat from the pan when necessary. Lay a couple of these in a lettuce leaf, arrange some tomato on top and season it, then dollop with the tzatziki and enclose with a second leaf.

Roasting tin courgette and quinoa pilaf

Serves 4

This is typical of how I like to cook with wholegrains, just a few mixed in with lots of veggies. I love the fabulously intense colour of fresh turmeric root that comes loaded with nutrients.

Flesh of 2 medium avocados

2–3 teaspoons lime juice, plus wedges to serve

600g courgettes, ends trimmed, halved lengthways and thickly sliced

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2x 4–5cm fresh turmeric roots, peeled

3cm knob of fresh ginger, peeled

1 teaspoon finely chopped medium-hot red chilli

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1x 250g packet ‘ready to eat’ quinoa, e.g. red and white, crumbled to separate the grains

A large handful of coarsely chopped coriander, plus a little extra to serve

30g pine nuts

Sea salt, black pepper

Preheat the oven to 230°C fan/250°C electric/gas mark 9. Whizz the avocado with the lime juice to taste and some seasoning. Scoop into a small bowl, cover and chill until required. Arrange the sliced courgette over the base of a large roasting dish that holds it in a crowded layer. Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of oil, season and toss to coat. Roast for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, whizz the turmeric, ginger, chilli and garlic to a coarse paste in a food processor. Transfer to a small bowl and add a tablespoon of oil. Loosen the courgettes with a spatula, dot with the paste and stir to coat. Return to the oven for a further 10–15 minutes until lightly golden.

Spoon the quinoa over the courgette, drizzle over another tablespoon of oil and stir, then mix in the coriander. Serve the avocado dolloped on top of the pilaf, scattered with pine nuts and a little more coriander. Accompany with lime wedges.

Annie Bell is a cookery writer and nutritionist @anniebellcook.