Rich Harris - Root Leaf: Big, bold-flavoured vegetarian food

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I should begin with a disclaimer: Im not a vegetarian. Im a huge fan of meat and fish, but theres something exciting and challenging about pushing them to one side and focusing on vegetables as the star of the show. If we listened to every bit of dietary advice available we might not eat anything at all, such is the current climate of endless experts giving their opinions (and, more dangerously, the so-called experts amongst the clean eating brigade). However, one thing is clear, we should all be eating more vegetables and cutting back on meat and fish. Im not going to make any health claims or offer any dietary advice, but surely eating more of the stuff that grows in the ground can only be a good thing. Without really realising it, weve cut back to only having meat a couple of times a week in our house and I think that our bodies and our wallets are beginning to thank us for it.

That said, this is not intended to be a healthy eating book. Just because the recipes are based on vegetables doesnt mean they cant occasionally be indulgent or that theyll all lead you down a virtuous path. You need only look at the to see that this book is all about flavour and the unadulterated joy of eating.

So whether youre a vegetarian, pescatarian or flexitarian, I want you to thumb through these pages and get excited about cooking with vegetables and the endless variety of flavours and textures that we have at our disposal if we make them the main event. I never thought Id see myself getting genuinely excited about cooking solely with vegetables, but through the process of writing this book Ive done exactly that. Im not a strict vegetarian so didnt want to include any meat replacement recipes such as veggie burgers or meat-free lasagne. Theres nothing wrong with those types of dishes, just that Ive written this from the point of view of someone who will happily eat a meat-based version and relished the challenge of coming up with new ideas. However, Im very aware that families often have a mix of vegetarians and non-vegetarians or that people can be catering for a crowd and trying to please numerous tastes. With that in mind, Ive designed the recipes in the Mains chapter first and foremost as standalone dishes, but also as recipes that would work as substantial side dishes as part of a non-vegetarian meal.

The range of fruit and vegetables out there is staggering and is constantly increasing as farmers and specialist growers find ways of cultivating exotic new varieties and reviving long-forgotten crops. Even over the course of writing this book, Ive made countless discoveries: lemon cucumbers, watermelon radishes, red hispi cabbage, white Russian kale and a plethora of previously unseen pumpkins. As tempting as it was to create recipes based around these new finds, I knew it would make them inaccessible unless you happen to live within easy reach of a specialist greengrocer. Ive tried to use more readily available varieties of fruit and vegetables throughout the book to encourage you to elevate the ordinary rather than grapple with the exotic. If, however, you spot an interesting looking squash, tiger-striped aubergine or violet cauliflower, then Id encourage you use them in the recipes in place of their common counterparts. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

This leads me nicely on to how to buy vegetables. After years of trawling markets, wholesalers and specialist suppliers, Ive picked up a few tips along the way; apologies if any of them seem like Im stating the bleeding obvious.

Firstly, buy in season. Youll always hear chefs on the telly talking about seasonal produce and they do so with good reason. Fruit and vegetables in season will always taste better and be in abundance, meaning greater availability and lower prices. The trouble is that with supermarket supply chains we have access to a huge range of produce throughout the year, which can often skew our perception of seasonality. Im not suggesting that you exclusively buy locally grown produce as its just not practical, but simply that an awareness of when things are in their prime is handy if you want to get the best flavour. This isnt so much of an issue when buying meat a steak will taste just as good whenever you buy it but if your dish relies on something like asparagus, itll taste infinitely better during that short, frenzied season at the start of spring (when I eat the stuff like its going out of fashion).

Try to look beyond the supermarkets. While theyre great for consistency and convenience, theyll be limited by whats in their range and whats viable on a large scale. If you have a local farmers market, then pop along and see what looks good; youll usually find the stallholders to be well-informed and full of advice about how to cook their produce. A little tip though; visit markets at the start of the day when youll have the pick of the best produce; a basket of wild mushrooms or bunches of rainbow chard will get snapped up by the early birds. Then go for a coffee or a bite to eat and go back to the market as its closing to pick up any bargains to be had.

When youre choosing vegetables, dont just look, use your hands too. Get used to picking up fruit and vegetables to get a feel for them. Most vegetables should feel firm and heavy when theyre at their peak as theyre full of water. If a cauliflower or cabbage feels a little lighter or more limp, its because its old and losing water. Not necessarily a bad thing; older vegetables are fine in soups and stews where liquid is being added anyway, or when roasted (where youre aiming to reduce the moisture and caramelise the natural sugars). Just try not to be overzealous with prodding and poking; Im sure Im not the only one whos felt obliged to buy an avocado after squeezing a little too hard and putting a thumb through it!

; all the funk but no fish. If youre not strictly veggie then you can just use regular fish sauce in the same quantities. Likewise with stock; all of the recipes are based around a flavourful vegetable stock, but if you happen to have chicken stock in the freezer or a stock cube in the cupboard then by all means use it.

These recipes arent prescriptive and should be approached with an open mind and the knowledge that theres no harm in tweaking them to your own taste or simply to suit what you have in the fridge. One of the most satisfying things is to hear that people have cooked from my books but with the odd change or addition; it shows me that my recipes are being used as a starting point for people getting excited about cooking and being creative in the kitchen. If recipes are approached as a set of strict rules that must be obeyed to the letter, then cooking ceases to be fun, and if its not fun, then whats the point? The only exception tends to be baking, where quantities, times and temperatures are a little more important, but otherwise theres no harm in using alternatives as you see fit. For example, butternut squash and pumpkin are generally interchangeable, regular broccoli works just as well as Tenderstem, and if you cant find baby vegetables just buy the grownup size and get busy with your knife. And dont go out of your way to find every ingredient on the list; if youre missing the odd spice or fresh herb, the dish wont suffer too greatly as a result. However you approach the recipes in this book, whether youre a vegetarian or not, I hope that you enjoy cooking them as much as I enjoyed creating them.