Darina Allen: Three comforting one-pot stew recipes to warm you up on a cold day

After a winter walk, there's nothing like a homemade stew to warm you up

Ireland has so many exciting walks to choose from through the forest and woodlands, over the hills, by the seashore… Songs have been sung and poems have been written about the joy of a winter walk through the frosty countryside. I love John Clare’s poem and Thoreau’s Winter Walk essay and then there’s the Canadian poet Lynette Roberts’s Winter Walk and Christina Umpfenbach’s poem also of the same name.

When it’s frosty and cold outside, it’s tempting just to curl up by the fire, but good to remember that exposure to the cold conditions can actually boost the immune system and makes us more resilient to seasonal colds and flu, provided we are well wrapped up — pull out those mitts and woolly hat!