Katherine Ryan is a "mindful vegetarian".
The 37-year-old comedian doesn't think she could completely cut animal products out of her diet because she loves cheese so much, and though she doesn't eat meet very often, she can't resist a good spaghetti bolognese.
Asked if she took part in Veganuary - the month-long initiative to eat a plant-based diet - she said: "Cheese is definitely a tough one to kick.
" Now, for the most part, I eat chicken or fish. I didn’t do any specific January resolution or anything like that.
"I’m a mindful vegetarian, like every once in a while, I will eat meat.
"Bolognese is a real Achilles heel for me. I know it has red meat in it and I will eat that but I try to be healthy whenever I can. I certainly know everything that’s going into what I eat. "
Katherine has enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen while spending more time at home with her partner Bobby Kootstra and her 11-year-old daughter Violet - who she has from a previous relationship - because of the coronavirus pandemic and she thinks the lockdown period has encouraged more families to take time out to enjoy dinner together.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "We’ve been cooking loads more and that’s great because it’s something that I love to do anyway.
"I think the lockdown has highlighted the importance of dinnertime and taking that time out with family or your partner just to make wholesome food and know the ingredients that are going into it and to experiment with different flavours.
"I feel like dinner is all about variety and it’s so nice to have all these new recipes. We stick to certain comfort foods that we like.
"There’s a spaghetti bolognese recipe we really like on the Gousto menu. There’s a chicken, mash pie that’s so good. We’ve learned about different new dishes from around the world and we make loads of Italian and different Mediterranean food. We’re really adding to our repertoire and we have lots of time. We’re enjoying cooking together at home."
The 'Duchess' star and her daughter have enjoyed following online cooking trends over the last few months.
She said: "I love the banana bread narrative. A lot of comedians have been saying, ‘Who is banana bread’s PR?’ It’s gone through the roof. My daughter has TikTok trends, she was making cake pops the other day and slime, but I don’t like bread. Bread is one thing that I don’t eat. So if I do get a recipe, I modify it, so I don’t eat the bun. "
Katherine is spearheading Gousto’s Cookstarter campaign. The initiative will enable food enthusiasts across the UK to get behind their favourite local by entering them into Cookstarter, as well as make in to help out, with tippable dishes inspired by five restaurants going live as recipe kits on Gousto. Each restaurant will also access a cash grant of £10k and a year-long series of business mentoring and coaching support. You can nominate your favourite independent restaurant by visiting www.goustocookstarter.com before 7 February.
