Recipe book has food fit for winners

A cookbook featuring the favourite recipes of well-known athletes shows even our sporting elite allow themselves the odd foodie treat.

For swimmer Hannah McLean it's chocolate-dipped strawberries - but they're not a regular indulgence.

"This is a treat thing. It's important people have fun with food and don't deprive themselves of everything," the 24-year-old said.

"As long as you have anything in moderation, that's fine. I do have some treats and it's good to have that represented in the cookbook."

Fit Food for Winners, produced by the Millennium Institute of Sport and Health and Nestle, features 86 recipes - 40 contributed by athletes such as canoeist Ben Fouhy, triathlete Hamish Carter and Silver Fern Jodi Te Huna.

It also provides nutritional information, shopping tips and advice on how to eat well as a travelling athlete.

The book, launched yesterday at the institute, is aimed at active people and those with an interest in healthy and easy-to-prepare food.

Windsurfer Barbara Kendall, whose contribution is a recipe for a rocket, tomato and mushroom omelette, said she was a big fan of food but not so keen on cooking.

"I'm not really a cookbook person, I look in the fridge and say 'what can we cook'.

"But every now and then you need a cookbook for inspiration," she said.

Fouhy said: "Hopefully this book will help people think about what they put into their body."