THE STUDENT VEGETARIAN COOK BOOK

for 2 minutes. Drain in a sieve set over a bowl to catch the cooking water; rinse under the cold tap and leave in the sieve to dry. When you need the sieve for the cabbage, tum the cauliflower on to a plate lined with kitchen paper.

3 Remove any thick stemsfrom the cabbage leaves (by cutting along each side of the stalk with a sharp knife as far as is necessary) and cut the leaves into V2 inchll cm squares; wash. Bring about % pinU450 ml salted water to the boil, add the cabbage, retum to the boil and boil for 2 minutes. Drain over the bowl of cauliflower water, rinse under the cold tap and leave on a paper-lined plate to dry (you will need to use the sieve when rinsing the rice).

4 Rinse the rice. Put % pinU450 ml of the vegetable water, the rice and a few drops of oil into the saucepan with a lid (no salt is needed as there should be enough in the water already). Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes for Basmati, 30-35 for Patna or American long-grain rice. Test for tendemess by breaking a grain between the thumb and forefinger; if necessary, simmera few minutes more, adding a little extra water if very dry. Keep covered until you are ready to serve.

5 Top and tail the beans, cut into I inch/2.5 cm lengths and wash; leave on another paper-lined plate to dry. Peel and finely slice the garlic. Peel, wipe if necessary and finely slice the ginger, discarding any tough or fibrous pieces.

6 Make the sweet-and-sour sauce. Squeeze the lemon and mix I tablespoon of the juice with the honey. Add the cornflour and mix until smooth. Stir in the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and sake if using it.

7 Check that all the vegetables are dry and blot with more kitchen paper if necessary. Set all the prepared ingredients plus the nuts and sweet-and-sour sauce to hand. Warm 3 tablespoons oil in the wok or large saucepan for a moment or twoover high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and allow tofryfor a few seconds until just starting to change colour. Add the courgettes and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the cauliflower and stir-fry for I minute. Add the cabbage and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes oruntil it is cooked but still firm. Add the nuts and stirfry for a few seconds. Pour in the sauce, stir thoroughly and remove from the heat. Serve on top of the rice.

It is hard to give an identity to a chapter on vegetable dishes in a vegetarian cookery book. I intended this tocontain recipes based strictly on vegetables rather than on rice, pastry and so on, but in the end it has come to include tofu croquettes, nut burgers and a gratine dish which is not far removed from a pie.

A main criterion ofthe recipes has been that they should not be too fussy. There are one or two stuffed dishes, notably Piero's Stuffed Courgettes, but they are very straightforward and do not take nearly as long to prepare as, for instance. cannelloni. One recipe, for marinated kebabs, which might have been included here but which is a little more timeconsuming, I have put in the chapter on Parties and Dinnerparties; similarly, there are several recipes for potatoes and a dish using cabbage as the main ingredient in the last chapterof all, for when you are really broke.