The Brockhampton Press Book of Vegetarian Cooking [antikvár]

INTRODUCTIONVegetarian cooking is becoming ever more popular. You may be vegetarian for health or for compassionate reasons or in order to stretch the family budget. One member of your family may suddenly decide to turn vegetarian overnight or you may have vegetarian guests to entertain. Whatever your reasons for deciding to cook vegetarian, a comprehensive, lively cookbook will always be useful. Even if you have been used to producing vegetarian meals for many years, looking at pages of appetizing recipes will give you new inspiration.Vegetarian cooking has come a long way from the lentils and rice or vegetables in cheese sauce type of dishes. True, these can still be appetizing, but as more cooks have experimented, the combinations of ingredients and types of dish have become staggeringly varied. In the following pages you will find recipes for all occasions from family main meals to special dinner parties. There are snacks for light suppers or lunches and delicious breads, cakes and biscuits, suitable for family teas or lunchboxes.Many of the recipes are based on fresh vegetables. They appear raw in salads, pureed to make soups or as part of a warming casserole. They are baked, sinmiered, stir-fried and braised and mixed with all manner of flavouring ingredients from curry to cheese. There are fritters and pâtës, stuffed vegetables and vegetables a la Grecque, besides the more exotic. Imagine the colour, for example, of a Beetroot Soufflé, or the light, fluffy texture of a Hot Carrot and Cheese Mousse.Fruits also have their part to play in vegetarian cookery. Used fresh, they give extra flavour and texture to savoury salads; how about Cucumber and Strawberry or Watercress and Grapefruit? The best desserts are also fruit based and you'll find raw fruit salads, poached fruits, fruit fritters and fruit puddings, even a Rhubarb Roulade. Even savoury hot meals can be fruit based or fruit flavoured. Try an exotic Mixed Fruit Curry or Onion and Apple Fritters. Dried fruits are added to salads, curries and hot vegetables besides forming the base for some of the desserts.In vegetarian cooking, protein is provided by eggs, cheese, pulses and nuts and the recipes in this book make use of these in many different ways. For instance, eggs are whisked into soufflés and roulades, while cheese is used to flavour sauces, dips, quiches and salads. Beans are rolled in cabbage leaves while lentils are turned into delicious curries or made into tasty patties. Nuts are added to salads, tossed into cooked vegetables, and also used to make nut roasts and cutlets, classic vegetarian fare.All the recipes are healthy without being cranky. They contain only familiar ingredients that are easy to buy and none of the recipes work out to be expensive. All in all, this book will be an asset to any cook and will prove that vegetarian food is certainly never boring.