A Masterchef star has been cooking up a storm in a Larkhall showhome to create healthy recipes for schoolchildren’s lunchboxes – in a replica of her own nearby kitchen on the same housing development.
Laura Michael, who tasted success when she reached the semi-finals of the BBC show in 2021, has created a menu of five tasty treats ranging from “anytime” pea and lemon-flavoured pasta to tangy cheese and ham cups after teaming up with housebuilder Living By Robertson.
She lives at the developer’s new Seven Hills estate off Borland Drive in the town, and is now hoping that her recipes through the Liven up your Lunchbox project will prove popular with young neighbours and pupils at local schools.
Award-winning chef Laura was asked by the developer to create some healthy and cost-effective lunchtime treats for families to make together, with all the items on her menu featuring five ingredients or fewer.
She used the Seven Hills show kitchen to perfect the recipes for homemade tortilla chips with red pepper salsa, raspberry and apple granola bars, and crispy veggies with chickpea dip as well as her pasta and cheese and ham cup innovations.
The mum-of two said the project was close to her heart, saying: “It was key to create recipes which encourage children to try different flavours and educate them on how nice healthy food can taste, and what fun they can have experimenting in the kitchen.
“Having children myself and having worked with a number of schools and colleges, it’s important that we do everything we can to ensure our children are reducing the amount of fat, salt and sugar in their diets and consuming adequate fruit and vegetables.”
She added: “Hopefully the Liven up your Lunchbox project will also be such a success we can add further ideas, and we can’t wait to hear what the children think of the new treats.”
Developing the menu was a close-to-home project for Laura, as the showhome mirrors her own property at the development in Larkhall, where she has returned to live after 15 years.
At the time of competing on Masterchef, she was living in Carluke and working as a jazz musician and instrumental tutor for South Lanarkshire Council; and since impressing the celebrity judges on the show, she has featured in the chef’s theatre at the Foodies Festival and regularly appeared on Radio Scotland’s Jazz House in Cooking with Jazz.
She said: “When I was looking to return to the Larkhall area recently, I particularly needed the kitchen to be strong and well designed. We entertain a lot and my home at Seven Hills is such a warm and welcoming house and development.
“The room sizes and design are far superior to other developments we had visited. I love it here and I am confident our family will spend many happy years in our new home.”
Living by Robertson senior sales manager Julie Henderson said: “Laura has demonstrated how healthy and nutritious food can not only taste amazing but is also fun to make as a family and helps the household finances go further.
“Her input is helping us share the message that there are simple alternatives to unhealthy ultra-processed foods.
“We were thrilled when she agreed to use our showhome kitchen to finesse some recipes which will liven up lunchboxes for children across Scotland – we’ll be publishing Laura’s recipes on our website and also inviting schools to share them in a bid to encourage healthy eating, improve the diets of schoolchildren and get them interested in cooking.”
The Liven up your Lunchbox project stemmed from Living by Robertson’s support of the Scottish Government ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030.
Laura’s recipes created in the Larkhall kitchen are online at https://livingbyrobertson.co.uk/liven-up-your-lunchbox/
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