Fibre is your friend . . .

Food by Delaney Mes for Living Magazine. Pictured is pear and feijoa crumble. April 1st 2015 Herald On Sunday Photograph by Doug Sherring

Fibre works hard to keep your digestive system moving like clockwork, support optimal gut health, lower cholesterol and clear any excess hormones from the body.

Simple ways to include a bit more fibre into your daily diet are:

' Half a plate of leafy greens or vegetables at two main meals a day (kale, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts or leeks)

' One-quarter of a plate of starchy vegetables as part of a balanced meal (kumara, pumpkin, beetroot, yams, parsnip or carrot)

' 2 servings of your favourite seasonal fruit (berries, kiwi fruit, apples, pears)

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' 1-2 tablespoons of nuts or seeds (chia seeds, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or almonds)

' 1-2 teaspoons of psyllium husks in your morning smoothie

' Treat yourself to a bowl of warming gluten-free porridge for breakfast (quinoa, brown rice, millet, buckwheat are gluten-free grains).

Now the feijoa season is upon us, try making this fabulous, fibre-filled feijoa crumble and enjoy it as a wholesome dessert, snack or even breakfast. Feijoas are packed with fibre and Vitamin C.

This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan (if made without butter) and refined sugar free.

Ingredients:

3-4 cups feijoas (approximately 20 medium sized feijoas), flesh scooped out (if you don't have enough feijoas you can substitute pear, berries or apple)

1 cup ground almonds

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup seeds (I use a mix of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and chia seeds)

1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil

1 tablespoons of real maple syrup

Instructions:

' Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, fan bake.

' Place the feijoas into an oven-proof dish.

' In a bowl mix the ground almonds, coconut, cinnamon and seeds.

' Pour in the coconut oil or butter and maple syrup and mix to combine.

' Cover the fruit with the crumble mixture and bake in the oven for approximately 20-25 minutes or until the feijoas are soft and warmed through and the crumble is golden.

' Enjoy with a dollop of coconut yogurt or natural Greek yogurt.

' Serves 6