What's more amazing is the gullibility of the public to fall for these fads, launched in the name of health, body-shape and vanity.

Have you heard of Green Smoothies? Not yet, perhaps, but I am predicting that it will not be long before you do.

Ostensibly a new way of consuming green vegetables in one quick gulp, it appears to be a matter of throwing handfuls of green vegetables, certain liquids, herbs and spices into a blender, whizzing them into a slimy green coagulation and swallowing it in the name of wholefood nutritious food.

Will it persuade fussy young children to "eat their greens"? I doubt it.

I must confess that I greatly enjoy an egg flip as a burst of energy from time-to-time, especially if a scoop or two of ice cream, boosted with vanilla or chocolate has been added to it.

But daily doses of  blended and very wet broccoli, spinach, green beans, snow peas, lettuce, zucchini, cabbage, bok choi and silverbeet strikes me as some form of unpleasant torture.

The delights of consuming a meal include enjoying the individual flavours of each food item on the plate, the manner in which it has been prepared and cooked (steamed and minted peas or pureed peas - boiled, roasted, deep-fried or mashed potatoes etc), and the actual joy of texture as one goes through the very human action of chewing.

For many decades now, scientists have predicted that we will be nourished by a selection of pills and tablets. What an appalling thought a "pill" dinner party would be.

Hurling green smoothies down our throats is just as appalling.

Biting into a deliciously crisp, sweet lettuce is one of the delights of eating a salad – discovering the flavour and texture of all the other surprise ingredients is even more enjoyable. Who wants an entire salad liquified and consumed from  large glass tumbler?

I hope you will agree that the following dishes offer far more satisfactory ways of consuming the essential greens we know we should partake.

Serves 8. This crisp and sweet salad is ideal for  a group barbecue. For less serves, simply halve the ingredient amounts.

1 small cabbage, shredded

4 spring onions, chopped (including some green tops)

2 sticks celery, chopped

1 green pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped

½ cup sultanas

½ cup mayonnaise or sour cream

½ cup walnut pieces

For the dressing:

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

salt/pepper

Put the cabbage, spring onions, celery, green pepper and apple into a salad bowl and add the sultanas. Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Add to the bowl and mix lightly. Cover and refrigerate for two to three hours. Just before serving time, add the mayonnaise or sour cream, sprinkle with the walnuts and toss.

Serves 4. A healthy light meal such as this should be a regular feature in your weekly diet.

1 x 440g can chick peas, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons flaked almonds

1 head broccoli cut into small florets and stalk peeled and cut into small pieces

Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon

2 tablespoons torn mint

¼ cup feta cheese

Salt/pepper

Put the room-temperature chick peas in a serving bowl. Heat a small amount of the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat and fry the almonds until golden. Tip onto a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil, then cook the broccoli florets and stalks for one minute only. Using a slotted spoon, quickly transfer the florets and stems to a bowl of iced water.

After a few minutes drain the broccoli in a sieve and then add to the chick peas.

Add the lemon zest and juice, mint, crumbled feta and olive oil to the chick peas and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix gently but well. Scatter with the fried almonds and serve.

Serves 6. This lovely salad is bright green and leafy. If you like, it can also provide a base on which to build an elaborate luncheon platter. Imagine chunks of poached fish, chicken, just shelled prawns, or warmed boiled potatoes, sliced salami and whatever olives you prefer – black, green, some of each, mild, or piquant. Sliced or whole baby radishes are also a good addition, as is sliced sliced raw fennel and a few quartered preserve artichokes. Drizzle the whole magnificent creation with wonderfully fruity new olive oil and maybe a dash of red-wine vinegar, or even a scattering of finely diced mild red onion.

2 bunches celery

2 cos lettuce

extra-virgin olive oil

red-wine vinegar

salt/pepper

6 hard-boiled eggs

½ cup black olives

¼ cup freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Remove the outer stalks of the celery and reserve for use in another dish. Remove the outer leaves from the cos lettuce and reserve for another use (you could combine the celery and lettuce in a pot of chicken stock along with some chopped onion and a cup or more of green peas, then boiled until soft and pureed through a food processor, with cream added to make a hot or cold soup). 

Put the inner cos leaves into a large salad bowl. Trim away any discoloured parts from the celery hearts. Finely slice the inner leaves and pale yellow leaves and put these in the bowl, then slice the solid section of each heart and add to the bowl and toss.

Make a vinaigrette with the olive oil and vinegar (three parts oil, one part vinegar), season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, whisk then pour over the salad, dressing it by lifting and turning it with your hands to mix thoroughly.

Shell the hard-boiled eggs and slice them thickly. Arrange the salad on a large platter and dot with the eggs and olives. and scatter the parsley over it all.

Serve with simple grills, poached chicken or gently fried fish fillets.

Serves 4. This dish looks so attractive, with the vivid green of the baby bok choy, the earthy shades of the mushrooms. Ideally, the dish is best with the three mushroom varieties mentioned, but if not available make a choice from what's on offer. Dried shiitake mushrooms can be found in the oriental shelves of your supermarket or special Asian food shop. To reconstitute, cover with boiling water and soak for 20 minutes. Trim the stems, if any, and use as instructed in this recipe. If cooked gently, the baby bok choy should look like jade.

500g baby bok choy

100g mushrooms - champignons or Swiss Browns

100g oyster mushrooms or other choice

60g shiitake mushrooms, dried

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon finely grated green ginger

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

½ teaspoon cornflour

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

Cut the bases off the bok choy. Baby bok choy may be left whole, but if it is large, trim the base and halve or quarter the vegetable; trim the rough tops of the leaves, but keep plenty of stalk on each leaf. Wash and dry the leaves and if stems are large, cut each across into two or three pieces.

Trim the stalks of the mushrooms; slash a cross or star on the rounded side of the shiitake if they are whole.

Heat the vegetable and sesame oils in a wok or large frying pan over a medium heat and stir-fry the mushrooms.

Cook the mushrooms until they give up some juice and then reabsorb it. Add the garlic and ginger, and stir-fry for one minute. 

Have ready the soy sauce, vinegar, cornflour and oyster sauce combined in a small bowl. Add this mixture to the vegetables and cook for about one minute, or until the vegetables are glazed. Serve immediately in a warmed serving dish.