By Diana Earnshaw
There are very few natural foods that supply such a broad range of important nutrients, in a form which is easy to assimilate for us humans. Cheese is up there near the top of the list. It has much more to commend it too – it is versatile, relatively inexpensive and if it is organic, there are no unwanted added unnatural ingredients.
Even people sensitive to lactose can often enjoy a little hard cheese (such as Cheddar), because the culture used in its creation will feed on the natural milk sugars.
The nutritional count is amazing. Protein; milk fat – which also contains the fat soluble 
vitamins A, D3, K2 and E; many of the B vitamins including the elusive vitamin B12; minerals including phosphorous and calcium which are both good for the health of teeth and bone, zinc which is good for skin and sexual health and selenium which is good for the immune system and helps in the prevention of cancers. The fat-soluble vitamins are essential for the uptake of bone minerals. There is also a good balance of Omega 3 and 6. Cheese is just a wonderful food – so much in one place!
There are a few foods that I will always have in the house and cheese is one of them. If you have cheese and a few vegetables, you have a meal. Quick lunch? Grab an (organic!) apple or pear and a lump of cheese. Evening meal but not much in the fridge? Try leek cheese (maybe wrap the leeks in ham?) as a change from the usual cauliflower cheese. Be assured, these are every bit as good as your usual meat or nut main meals, but mains made from cheese just offer a different range of nutrients.
Some of you might remember the 70s vegetarian revolution. Restaurants everywhere were offering their version of Homity Pie. It’s real comfort food, but absolutely delicious. The recipe below is the updated version from BBC Food (which I have altered a little). View recipe…