Ella Woodward overhauled her diet to solve her health problems, which left her bed-ridden five years ago. Her cooking has transformed her life, as the best-selling author tells Keeley Bolger.

AFTER a whirlwind year, which saw her first book become the UK's biggest-selling debut cookbook of all time, health blogger Ella Woodward could be forgiven for having a bit of time off.

But this 24-year-old isn't one for thumb-twiddling. Her follow-up book – Deliciously Ella Every Day – has just hit the shelves (and a third is already in the pipeline), plus there's a new venture – The Mae Deli in London, which she runs with her fiance – and cookery classes to teach, a new modelling campaign for Amanda Wakeley, and her ongoing training to become a nutritionist.

"It's good," she says with a laugh. "There's a lot going on, but it feels like a really exciting time."

Another of those exciting things is her forthcoming marriage, to Tessa Jowell's son Matthew Mills. They got together last year, and enjoy a happy working relationship as well as romantic one.

"It is really nice," says Woodward, of teaming up with her beau for The Mae Deli, "because up until now, everything I've done, I've worked on my own. I do love it, and I've got girls in the office who help me, but it is all me. There's something nice about when you start something together, when you share in the excitement... and you've got someone to bounce ideas off all the time."

She says they're planning to have a "really small wedding" later this year. "It's another thing to plan, but a nice thing..."

Much as they'll give the cooking a wide berth on the big day, crossover was an inevitability.

"We were doing recipes recently for the deli and I was like, 'Oh my God, this one could be our wedding cake', and I was so excited by it," she reveals with a laugh.

It's been a steep learning curve for the former "sugar monster". Indeed, just five years ago, Woodward radically changed her diet when her health was on the wane, leaving the then 19-year-old model and history of art student bed-ridden for up to 16 hours a day, unable to risk a short stroll without suffering heavy heart palpitations and chronic pain.

Eventually diagnosed with postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), a potentially debilitating condition which affects the autonomic nervous system, she found that traditional treatments only went so far, and so she looked to her diet for answers. She admits she'd rarely cooked before that point, but gradually, she overhauled her diet, cutting out meat, dairy, sugar and processed food. Soon she felt much better, and began documenting her culinary experiments on her blog.

Today, her subscribers are in excess of 60,000, in addition to her 715k Instagram followers and 85k Twitter fans. And much as the regime works well for her and her devotees, she is keen to avoid guilt-mongering others into following her food path.

"I think people want to 'eat perfectly', and that doesn't exist. Eating perfectly is what makes you happiest, and that might be eating a smoothie for breakfast but having a pizza with your girlfriends for dinner – that's fine. As long as you don't wake up the next day and make yourself feel guilty about it. There's so much guilt associated with food."

If you want to try rustling up some healthy – and guilt-free – treats for you and your loved one this Valentine's Day, here are two lovely new recipes from Deliciously Ella Every Day...

The perfect garden fry-up

(Serves 1)

2tbsp olive oil

½tsp cayenne pepper

1tsp dried oregano

1tsp dried thyme

2 garlic cloves, crushed

Salt and pepper

6 chestnut mushrooms, very finely sliced

10 cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered if large)

Juice of 1 lemon

50g spinach

½ avocado

Pour the olive oil into a frying pan and add the cayenne pepper, oregano, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Let it heat and develop its fragrance for two minutes.

Add the mushrooms, tomatoes and half the lemon juice and let everything cook for about three minutes, at which point the veg should have softened.

Stir in the spinach and let it wilt for another minute or so.

Pile the vegetables from the pan on to a plate – or a piece of toast – and slice the avocado on top.

Drizzle the remaining lemon juice over the avocado and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper to serve.

Chickpea, quinoa and turmeric curry

(Serves 6)

500g new potatoes, halved

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3tsp ground turmeric

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp chilli flakes or powder

1tsp ground ginger

400g can of coconut milk

1tbsp tomato puree

400g can of chopped tomatoes

Salt and pepper

180g quinoa

400g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

150g spinach

Place the potatoes in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil, then let them cook for about 25 minutes, until you can easily stick a knife through them. Drain them well.

Place the potatoes in a large pan and add the garlic, turmeric, coriander, chilli, ginger, coconut milk, tomato puree and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, then add the quinoa with a mug of just-boiled water (300ml).

Reduce the heat to a simmer, place the lid on and allow to cook. Over the next 30 minutes, stir every five minutes or so, to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. (This is quite a long cooking time, but this is how long quinoa takes to cook in all these ingredients, rather than just in water.)

Halfway through cooking, add the chickpeas. When there are just five minutes left, add the spinach and stir it in until it wilts. Once the quinoa has cooked and is fluffy, not crunchy, it's ready.

  • Deliciously Ella Every Day by Ella Woodward is published in hardback by Yellow Kite, priced £20. Available now