Pie? Healthy? Yes, really. This one uses apples, which lower your risk of heart disease and levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol. Meanwhile, the pastry is made of organic spelt flour and coconut oil, which is a medium chain triglyceride (MCT). "MCT fats cannot be readily used by the body to make larger fat molecules, and they burn quickly," says Cutter. "Studies show that coconut oil may increase metabolic rate, aid digestion and support the immune system."

Heart-healthy apple pie
Makes one 24cm pie

Pastry
450g (3 cups) spelt flour, preferably organic (available from health food stores)
3 tbs raw sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
160g coconut oil (frozen solid)
1 tsp vanilla
150-200ml cold water, to mix
1 egg, beaten

Filling
8 medium green apples
1 tsp coconut oil
pinch of cinnamon
125g raw sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
grated zest and juice from one orange
1 tbs corn flour

1 To make pastry, mix spelt flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl.
2 Grate the coconut oil into the flour mix and lightly rub them together with hands until it resembles breadcrumbs.
3 Pour in most of the vanilla and water; mix lightly until it forms a dough, adding a touch more water if needed.
4 Cover and rest in fridge for about 30 minutes.
5 Cut the apples into wedges without peeling and remove the core.
6 Grease a frypan with coconut oil and saute apples for three minutes over medium heat. Add cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, orange zest and juice.
7 Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly; fold in corn flour.
8 Grease a pie dish. Roll half of the pastry onto a floured board then lift using a rolling pin into the dish. Fill with the apple mixture. Roll the other half of pastry on top of apples. Gently press the dough together and cut off the remaining bits of pastry.
9 Brush the top of the pie with egg and sprinkle over a little extra sugar.
10 Preheat oven to 180°C and bake for about 45 minutes.

Tricks of the trade
Replace half the spelt flour with wholemeal spelt flour to increase the fibre content. "Spelt flour has about 25 per cent more protein than regular wheat and up to 60 per cent more amino acids," explains Cutter. It's also good for people with an intolerance to wheat.

Mix 125g of blueberries into the apple filling just before piling into the pie shell.

For more fibre, add half a cup of rolled oats to the flour before forming into dough and sprinkle the top of the pie with oats before baking.

Replace the coconut oil with macadamia oil, which not only tastes fantastic, but contains mostly heart healthy monounsaturated fats.

Serve with coconut sorbet, vanilla yoghurt or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Love your heart
Take extra care to prepare heart-healthy meals and being extra active during Heart Week, May 4 to 10. Two out of three Aussie families are affected by heart disease so the Heart Foundation is using Heart Week to urge people to get active. Get in the spirit by taking your good ol' skipping rope out and bouncing in the park. School kids will celebrate by participating in the 25th Jump Rope for Heart event. They'll attempt to break the Guiness World Record for mass skipping - the UK got almost 8000 people skipping at various locations for three minutes with breaks of no more than 10 seconds.

Kitchen made
The gadgets and gizmos that have whet Teresa's appetite this month

Got a week of late nights planned? Dodge the ubiquitous post-party kebab by pre-cooking meals on Sunday and vacuum-packing them with a Sunbeam FoodSaver VAC440. Store anything from soup to steak in the fridge or freezer. Your nosh will be impervious to bacteria. If only the same could be said for kebabs... $199, sunbeam.com.au

Cut back on your electricity bill, carbon footprint and water usage by using a Tefal Quick Cup. It's like a kettle but only boils one cup of filtered water at a time, saving the energy you'd use with a conventional kettle by up to 65 per cent. You'll also save time: it takes three seconds. Well within any ad break. $129.95, quickcup.com.au

The cold's coming and you'll no doubt be thwarting winter blues with steaming-hot comfort food. You might be donning ugg boots and man-sized jumpers but, please, at least use stylish cookware. Scanpan's new Coppernox range should do it: the combo of copper and aluminium looks smoking' and ensures even heat distribution. From $69.95, 1800 209 999