The Hemsley sisters are as much chatterboxes as they are chefs, finishing each others' sentences and chipping in all over the place.
"I am the big sister and she's the bossy sister," Jasmine (36) explains wryly, pointing at Melissa (30).
The healthy-eating aficionados set up their company and lifestyle blog, Hemsley + Hemsley, together six years ago.
They were picked up by Vogue as columnists within weeks of starting out, their first book, The Art Of Eating Well – famed for its Bone Broth and Black Bean Brownie recipes – was an international hit, and now they're celebrating the release of their "second baby", Good + Simple.
"Good + Simple is pretty much what it says on the tin," buzzes Melissa. "Everything that went into it had to taste very good, do you good, and be really simple to make, and that is pretty much how we cook anyway – from Monday morning to Friday night."
"We are big fans of making life easy," agrees former model Jasmine, who explains that they're all about encouraging people to have a Sunday cook-off, where you set yourself up for the week by making meal batches.
"Every time you cook, make double and pop it in the freezer, and then you don't really think about takeaways," says Jasmine with a grin.
And the new book is full of healthy comfort food alternatives.
"You'll find all your classic favourites reworked, like fish finger sandwiches. And the Full Monty, which is our full English breakfast," chirps Melissa.
"And then Celeriac Carbonara – it looks the business," finishes Jasmine.
The Celeriac Carbonara embodies what they're all about: vegetables, good fats and twists on the traditional – in this case, the pasta's replaced with ribbons of root veg.
"We love spiralizing!" Melissa says proudly, which is something of an understatement – since they, in fact, pioneered the spiralizer.
They've even got Mary Berry using one: "I actually took a picture in Selfridges, and there's a pile of our spiralizers and then there's our book and Mary Berry's book – I was like, 'Yay!'
"I always thought we would never have anything in common with Mary Berry, because I can't really bake," Melissa continues. "We do bake 'our' way, but if someone asked me to bake Mary's way I wouldn't know how, because it's too scientific."
Although Berry isn't doing it quite right, apparently... "She used the difficult spiralizer, the one that's like a pencil sharpener, which is actually really annoying."
Neither of the sisters were surprised by the success of the gadget, despite people claiming it was "gimmicky" to begin with.
"Essentially, it's a safer mandolin," says Melissa, rolling her eyes – but admittedly they are horrified that you can now buy pre-spiralized veg ("It's not right!").
Their prediction for the next foodie obsession is cauliflower rice – there are three versions in Good + Simple – and they've already got their mum hooked.
"Our mum is Filipino and grew up on white rice and grew us up on white rice," Melissa explains with a laugh. "She got really into cauliflower rice and was like, 'I can't understand how there's cauliflower in the rice?', and we were like, 'No! It is cauliflower rice!'"
Here are two recipes from Good + Simple.
:: HUEVOS RANCHEROS WITH GUACAMOLE
(Serves 2)
4 large handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped
4 eggs
1 large handful of fresh coriander, leaves and stalks roughly chopped
1 small handful of grated mature Cheddar
For the tomato sauce:
1 large onion, diced
1tbsp ghee or coconut oil
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 red peppers, halved lengthways, deseeded and sliced into strips
2 bay leaves
1tsp smoked paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper or finely diced fresh red chilli, to taste
2 x 400g tins of tomatoes or 800g fresh tomatoes
200ml water (100ml if using fresh tomatoes)
Sea salt and black pepper
For the guacamole:
1 large ripe avocado
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2-1 lime
2 spring onions or 1 small handful of fresh chives, chopped
1 handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
First make the tomato sauce. Fry the onion in the ghee or coconut oil over a medium heat for about eight minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic, peppers, bay leaves and spices to the pan and cook for another two minutes.
Add the tomatoes and water, season generously with salt and pepper, then stir everything together and leave to simmer for 10 minutes until reduced to a thick, rich sauce.
Meanwhile, make the guacamole. Halve and stone the avocado, then scoop out the flesh and roughly chop. Place in a bowl and stir in all the remaining ingredients and some seasoning. Set aside.
Check the seasoning of the tomato sauce, adding extra salt, pepper and cayenne/chilli as needed, then stir through the spinach and cook for a few minutes until just wilted.
Use a spatula or spoon to make four wells in the tomato sauce mixture and crack an egg into each. The eggs will poach in the sauce and cook in about 4 minutes (lid on) for set whites and runny yolks.
Scatter over the coriander and cheese. Serve immediately with big heaped spoonfuls of guacamole on top.
:: MUM'S PHILIPPINE BEEF SINIGANG
(Serves 2)
700g rib-eye steak
1.2L water
2 medium onions, diced
6 garlic cloves, diced
5cm piece of fresh root ginger unpeeled (if organic), thinly sliced
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
3tbsp tamarind paste
A big pinch of black or white pepper
3-4tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
400g green beans, tops trimmed
400g pak choi, leaves and stalks roughly chopped
2 whole fresh red chillies
400g spinach
Cut the meat into 3cm cubes, retaining the fat as it will flavour the stew. Place in a large saucepan and pour in the water. Bring to the boil, then cover and quickly reduce the heat and cook at a medium-to-low simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes with the tamarind paste, pepper and fish sauce. Bring back up to a simmer and cook, covered, for a further 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding more tamarind paste for a sourer flavour, if desired. Remember fish sauce is salty and brands vary in strength.
Tip in the beans, pak choi and whole chillies, then bring back up to a simmer and cook covered for five more minutes.
Add the spinach and remove the pan from the heat, leaving the lid on to allow the spinach to wilt. Remove the chillies and serve immediately.
:: Good + Simple by Melissa and Jasmine Hemsley, Photography by Nick Hopper, published by Ebury Press, priced £25. Available now
