In the future, will GPs give out mung beans instead of prescriptions? Will stress sufferers turn to dried mango rather than Valium? It seems unlikely, but ultra-nutritious superfoods are increasingly being touted as answers to a range of health problems from depression to cancer. A current buzzword in pop nutrition, superfoods are an elite group of natural foodstuffs supposedly so nutrient-rich that they have a quasi-pharmaceutical effect on the immune system. Superfood advocates claim, for example, that wheatgrass juice can lower cholesterol levels, that buckwheat eases hypertension and that tomatoes are anti-carcinogenic. Some superfoods are simply well-worn healthy choices that have been re-branded, such as avocados and walnuts, but others are more arcane, such as sea vegetables, algae and the obscure South American grains quinoa and amaranth.

Unfortunately, the nutritional punch that superfoods deliver is not necessarily matched with flavour. No one minds the odd extra avocado or handful of blueberries on their plate but too often, a delicious tingle of self-righteousness is all superfoods offer in the way of pleasure. Though the weirdness of detoxifying algae can be concealed under other flavours, if eaten unadulterated, their taste is every bit as delicious as you would expect of slime skimmed off a brackish pond. Omega-rich quinoa porridge, a building block of many super-food regimes, tastes like something that might have been served to Victorian children as a punishment for putting their elbows on the table, while cleansing nettle tea is as sour as a dirty look.

In Britain, the public face of superfood is the inescapable media nutritionist Gillian McKeith. With a string of books, a television series and a superfood product range, McKeith has thrust herself upon us as a sort of Bottom Inspector General, poking into people's toilet bowls as if they were their souls in her quest to bully us away from pies and on to toasted seaweed. While few people relish having their stools pored over by a human screech owl, no one can really fault a diet full of nutrient-rich, immune-boosting food, even if scientific back up for McKeith's claims seems sketchy at times.

The snag is, of course, taste: the sort of daily diet advocated by McKeith and her ilk is a dreary, loveless thing, weighed down with stodgy, under-seasoned grains and dull sprouted seeds. Superfood enthusiasts put such objections down to dietary false consciousness: because they do not deliver the kick our cravings demand, our addiction to fat and sugar programmes us to reject truly nutritious foods. This is rubbish: a chocolate eclair will always taste better than a dried cranberry and no amount of self-denial will change that.

So, can we still eat superfoods without giving up on pleasure? Well, yes - with careful preparation and the odd nutritionally unsound ingredient added, even the less presentable superfoods can brush up nicely. The recipes below give you some pointers. Quinoa, for example, is pleasantly nutty if you dry the grains out properly and couple it with something sharp or tangy. The briniest of sea vegetables can be perked up with a spicy Asian dressing, while the slightly extraterrestrial taste of spirulina algae works surprisingly well with mushrooms.

Korean seaweed salad

Serves 4

15g dried wakame

2 tbsp pre-packaged crispy seaweed

150g white radish

150g cucumber

3 spring onions, shredded

1 carrot, grated

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1 tsp salt

½ tsp red chilli paste

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Peel the radish and cucumber and slice into thin julienne strips. Coat the strips with the salt, leave them to stand for 30 minutes and drain off excess liquid. Soak the wakame for five minutes in cold water, then squeeze it dry and chop finely. Add the other vegetables, except the crispy seaweed, and blend. Mix the garlic, sesame seeds and chilli paste into the soy sauce and vinegar. Coat the salad with this dressing and leave to stand for at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle the crispy seaweed on top before serving.

Mushroom and spirulina soup

Serves 4

10 large field mushrooms, finely chopped

1 tbsp dried porcini

4 sticks celery

6 shallots, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

4 tsp spirulina powder

25g butter

1 litre vegetable stock

1 medium potato, peeled and cubed

1 tbsp chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Bring the stock to the boil, pour it over the porcini and leave them to soak for 30 minutes. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and sweat the shallots and garlic in it until soft. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook them over a low flame until their juices run. Remove the porcini from the stock, chop them finely and add to the mushrooms. Pour in the stock, add the celery and potato and simmer for 40 minutes. Remove the celery and squeeze its juices back into the pan through a sieve. Leave to cool slightly, then sieve the spirulina powder into the soup. Blend the soup, season it and garnish with chopped parsley.

Quinoa and sprouted mustard seed salad

Serves 4

100g quinoa

2 tomatoes

1 head chicory, shredded

2 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped

2 red peppers

2 tbsp sprouted mustard seeds

2 tbsp chopped chives

2 tbsp chopped coriander

½ tsp minced green chilli

juice of 1 lime

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly and pour into boiling water. Boil for 15 minutes, then strain as fully as possible in a sieve. Spread the quinoa thinly across a baking sheet and dry it gently for 10 minutes in a very low oven. Remove and leave to cool. Scald the tomatoes in boiling water, remove the skins and seeds and chop roughly. Slice the peppers lengthways into four pieces and grill under a high flame until the skin is charred. Cool the peppers in a polythene bag, then peel the skins off and chop. Whip lime juice, chilli and oil together to make a dressing. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and combine with all the other ingredients.