While there's been a vogue for minimalism in the past 15 years, people tend to think that by painting a house white and keeping furnishings to a minimum they are creating a minimalist home. Few people achieve minimalism in its true, purest sense, but the chic home of the bubbly Sunday Independent columnist, Susan Jane Murray and her Hugh Grant-lookalike fiance, author and publisher Trevor White, is a perfect example of the style.

Aesthetically, it's a delight, with old polished floorboards and Farrow & Ball paints creating soothing, calming spaces; unobtrusive furnishings with just the odd statement piece, each item adding a certain something to the room and emphasising the space's almost Zen-like qualities.

Nor is practicality sacrificed on the altar of aesthetics. The couple love books, so there are bookshelves everywhere, even in the bathroom, avoiding the chronic condition of the bibliophile: clutterism.

If any room can be said to have clutter, it's the kitchen. But that clutter is very important: it's made up of the rows of Kilner jars containing the ingredients that Susan Jane uses to whip up the delicious recipes she treats us to each Sunday, here in LIFE magazine. You won't find the contents of the jars in every cook's kitchen -- ingredients such as millet, buckwheat, quinoa, goji berries, tahini, and seeds of every description. And there are things that many other cooks think are essential, but which will never get a place in Susan Jane's kitchen -- items such as butter, sugar and white flour. Yet, she still conjures up all the things we love, even chocolate cake. "Chefs use butter, sugar and wheat, all the time," she says. "Chefs are trained to appeal to the palate. I try not to compromise on taste, but to include health." The 30-year-old beauty from Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, is a poster girl for her diet: gorgeous figure, glowing skin and glossy hair. Four years ago, she was forced to find the right way of eating for herself when she became very ill. And it was that illness which led to her current career.

She was in her mid-20s; she had a good degree from Trinity, in Business Economics and Sociology, had done a stint in UCD, and had travelled extensively. "I went to Italy to learn Italian and, while I was there, I started to learn the Russian alphabet and went to St Petersburg for six months. I worked in a software development company. It was tough," she says, "but I'm a glutton for adventure and challenge. I believe we learn from harder experiences. I wanted to be propelled out of my comfort zone."

Susan Jane certainly had her wish, shortly after, at her next stop -- Oxford University, to study Management Research. "After a year there, I fell ill. I could not digest my food, I was weak and lethargic. The doctors said: 'We know there's something wrong but we don't know what it is,''' she recalls.

She came home, went into hospital and was diagnosed with an immune disorder stemming from her bone marrow. She was prescribed antibiotics and steroids, but in the meantime she decided to take responsibility for her own health. She devoured information on nutrition and found that when she eliminated certain things, such as sugar, dairy and wheat, she felt better. She also gave up caffeine, gluten and alcohol.

"Four years on, I could go back on them now, but my immune system is so terrific I don't want to," she says. "I've turned the kitchen into an alchemist's corner and I spend hours getting the recipes right. When I was young, my mother, who's very creative, thought it fun to make up your own recipes, so I learned by taste and memory -- much more satisfying," she notes.

While it can't have been easy spending a year trying, as Susan Jane did, to find out what was the matter, there are several upsides to her illness. There's her new career -- not only does she write for LIFE, she joins Tom Dunne every Monday on Newstalk to talk nutrition. "I get many emails from readers and listeners. It's beautiful, without sounding too fluorescent," she muses.

She also sees clients at her clinic in Baggot Street, Dublin 2. "Inflammation is the most common problem, arthrititis, psoriasis and backache," she notes. Cookery lessons at Donnybrook Fair are also a new addition to her repertoire.

An earlier by-product of her passion for nutrition was becoming the president of the Oxford University Gastronomy Society. After a year out at home she went back to Oxford because she loved living there. It was there that, a year ago, she met Trevor -- then owner and editor of The Dubliner.

"I used to do part-time modelling and Rebecca Morgan, my agent, suggested to Trevor that he interview me about the society," Susan Jane explains. "I came over, we had two or three dates, tops, before he flew over to Oxford for a few visits. I flew back in November and he asked me to move in," she says, obviously still marvelling at how they bonded so easily. She adds that from the moment she moved in, he encouraged her to think of his house as "ours".

Susan Jane disarmingly admits she had nothing to do with the decor, but happily it echoes her taste. Trevor bought the house four years ago and did it up. "Trevor's mum, Alicia White, is an interior designer and she has great taste," she says. "He learned to appreciate good design from her."

Dating from 1834, the Regency-style house is in one of Dublin's leafiest squares. "It wasn't in bad condition when he bought it. He stripped it back, naturally, but kept its character. Neither of us like ornaments, so we're singing from the same hymn book."

The interconnecting reception rooms are on the ground floor and the three bedrooms and converted attic are above. The attic was Trevor's office, but he gave it to Susan Jane for her work "He did it up for me," she says. "It's almost a race to see who can spoil the other most. I cook for him. We're both nurturers."

At garden level is the kitchen with its electric Aga and myriad cupboards for storing Susan Jane's endless array of arcane ingredients. While these days her cooking is for Trevor and friends and for creating recipes for LIFE, there's no doubt that Susan Jane will soon explore a different avenue -- the couple are thrilled to be expecting a baby.

According to Susan Jane, her mother "nearly malfunctioned with excitement" the day they told her because Susan Jane's brother and his wife broke similar news -- thus giving her mother the news of her first two grandchildren on the same day.

"'I've two arms,''' Susan Jane recalls her mother saying. Meanwhile, the bookshelves are filling up with baby books; Trevor, who is a book addict, is the greater culprit. "I bumped into him the other day on the street, and he had just bought a book on how to raise children," she says, with a fond laugh.

Into all things natural, Susan Jane is planning a water birth at home. Given her slim figure, it's hard to believe that the birth is less than four months away -- her diet is obviously at the heart of how well her pregnancy is going. The estimated date of arrival is February 14. Now that is a baby who will always be assured a delicious, yet healthy, birthday cake.

Susan Jane Murray's column, 'Eats Shoots and Leaves', is on page 40 of LIFE.

Susan Jane will give a cookery demonstration at Donnybrook Fair, D4, next Saturday, November 14, at 10.30am.

See www.susanjanemurray.com

- Mary O'Sullivan

Sunday Independent