Asparagus season. One of the first spring veg, and something Cornwall happens to produce, so that’s an extra big bonus!

Even better? How beautifully it pairs with that occasional Sunday brunch treat, fresh local soft boiled eggs. What easier way to get a veg portion into breakfast (followed by a piece of fruit for more nutrient benefits)?

With food costs going up across the board, fresh food is still the healthiest choice for our wallets as well as our wellbeing. Asparagus isn’t as expensive as it’s perceived to be (Tesco has bunches on offer for 79p if you have a Clubcard) and other veg could be substituted – a few mangetout work just as well, making a pack go further while boosting nutrient intake.

Experimentation and creativity with an eye for good food at good prices are where it’s at – a bag of carrots costs less than 40 pence, and can last a whole family a whole week, as slices, as mash, as noodle strips, and more.

Another cost cutting measure today was cooking the asparagus in the same pan as the eggs – they take the same amount of time, and need one cooker ring instead of two.

All in all this substantial and filling brunch that will keep me full until supper cost a princely 71 pence, and included complex carbohydrate in the wholemeal toast, soluble and insoluble fibre in the toast and asparagus, protein and healthy fat in the eggs, asparagus and butter, and more vitamins and minerals than you can shake a stick at, all in food form.

Why is that important? Because our bodies know what to do with nutrients in food form – they work synergistically, and rarely antagonistically in a simple meal like this.

As an excellent source of folate, vitamin C, iron, B6, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin K, selenium, and specific substances that support detoxification pathways and free radical balancing, asparagine and glutathione, asparagus has illustrated its strengths protecting against such varied health concerns as cancer, depression, water retention, kidney stones, heart disease, skin ageing and wrinkles, and inflammation.

Every meal or snack is a chance to nourish ourselves. What’s on your menu today?