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to hospital than meat-eaters. Indeed, numerous other studies have come up with similar findings that there are huge health benefits to be gained by becoming vegetarian and then taking the next logical step and becoming vegan. Apart from the personal benefits, such a move has a positive impact on world ecology and reduces animal suffering.

      It is vital you eat a varied balanced diet for good health. Breakfast is a good time to try some of the many grains, perhaps in the form of a bowl of oats and other flaked grains (such as rye, wheat or barley) with raisins or chopped dried apricots, maybe a few chopped or grated nuts and soya milk, which counts as one serving of pulses (legumes). Another good breakfast is porridge made with half soya milk and half water, topped with some flaked almonds or hazelnuts and perhaps a few raisins or some maple syrup for sweetness. Or, for a lighter breakfast, soya yogurt and fresh fruit make for a good start to the day. All these suggestions can be rounded off with wholewheat toast, vegan margarine and any preserves you fancy, as well as tea, coffee, herb tea or whatever you like to drink at breakfast.

      There are plenty of possibilities for quick snack meals, too. Almost any of the dips in this book can be whizzed up in no time and if you haven’t got time even for that, then hummus is widely available and good on toast, bread or pitta bread or in sandwiches with some salad. A burger in a bun – especially the Spicy Beanburgers makes a good quick snack and they can be cooked from frozen. Refried Red Beans are very quick to prepare if you use canned beans, or if you have a supply of cooked beans in the freezer, and these are delicious jazzed up with sliced avocado, tortilla chips, tomato and other salad ingredients. Red Bean Chilli is speedy to cook and makes a filling meal, especially if served with a baked potato. Talking of baked potatoes, to the question “What can I have with it instead of cheese?”, there are plenty of answers here. Some of my favourites are coleslaw, mashed avocado, chopped fresh herbs and vegan margarine, lemon and fresh herb sauce, tahini dressing, hummus or bean pâté – and there are many other possibilities.

      Pasta, of course, makes a good, quick, pleasurable meal that most people like. For a whole host of good vegan sauces, see here. If you want an extra topping in place of Parmesan, try chopped fresh herbs, pine nuts or even a scattering of crunchy croutons, all of which work well. Particular favourites of mine are Penne with Artichoke Hearts, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Olives and Basil, Fusilli Colbucco with Aubergine (Eggplant) and Wine Sauce and Lasagne al Forno.

      Potato-based dishes are good for quick meals, so try Rosti, Colcannon,Champ, Healthy Chips (Fries) and Potato Pancakes, which are all excellent in this respect. To turn them into well-balanced, healthy meals, simply serve them with a good salad, perhaps including grated carrot, sliced tomatoes and green leaves.

      Pastry dishes make excellent main courses and are particularly useful as the centrepiece of a special meal. Spanikopita is wonderful in the summer, served with just a ripe tomato and basil salad, with perhaps an asparagus vinaigrette as an appetitizer and Instant Raspberry Ice for pudding. Flaky Potato Pie is another great dish for a special meal, while Chestnut and Red Wine Pâté, Flaky Mushroom Roll or Ann’s Pie all make popular main courses for Christmas, although I still think there’s a place for a really good Nut Roast. All of these need to be served with complementary sauces, and there are a number of tasty possibilities in the section starting here.

      I especially enjoyed working on the Desserts and Cakes and Cookies chapters in this book. It was very satisfying to create really good vegan versions of favourites such as Raspberry Ice, Kulfi – that delectable, fragrant Indian ice – Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Torte and Steamed Syrup Pudding, not to mention the superb Fruit Cake, amazingly light and tasty Sponge Cake, with several variations, and the very good Sticky Date Ginger Cake. In fact, the results were so good that I began to wonder why we generally use eggs in these recipes at all! I hope you will enjoy them, and all the other recipes in this book, too.

       A note on ingredients and measures

      Nearly all the ingredients you need for vegan cookery are easy to find. Read the labels; you will soon get to know which products are suitable and find your favourites.

      SOYA MILKS, MARGARINES AND CREAM

      There are numerous soya milks and vegan margarines and you really need to just try them all out to find which ones are your favourites. Of the margarines, I particularly like an unsalted one made with cold-pressed oils available from healthfood shops. Vegan cream, made from soya, is also available. Again, it is a case of trying the different brands to see which one you like best. There is an excellent one flavoured delicately with real vanilla.

      OILS

      My preference is for olive oil, except for deep or shallow frying, for which I think a chemically stable oil such as rape or soya is best. When frying onion, garlic or other such ingredient at the beginning of a recipe, I use a little olive oil. This can be a blended olive oil – the cheapest – saving the best you can afford for dressing and finishing a dish, where the flavour and colour really count.

      How to meet daily nutritional requirements on a vegan diet

Food group whole grains and potatoes	How often to eat 2–4 100g (4oz) servings daily	What it provides energy, protein, oils, vitamins, fibre	Some examples brown rice, corn, millet, barley, bulgur, buckwheat, oats, muesli, bread, pasta, flour
pulses (legumes)	1–2 100g (4oz) servings daily	protein, oils	green peas, lentils, chickpeas (garbanzos), kidney beans, baked beans, soya products
green and yellow vegetables	1–3 25g (1oz) servings daily	vitamins, minerals, protein	broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, cabbage, carrots, marrow, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, parsnips
nuts and seeds	1–3 25g (1oz) servings daily	energy, protein, oils, calcium, trace minerals	almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, nut butters, tahini, sunflower seeds
fruit	3–6 pieces daily	energy, vitamins, minerals	all kinds
vitamin and mineral foods	1 serving of (a) and (b) 3 times a week	trace minerals and vitamin B12	(a) sea vegetables (b) B12-fortified foods, such as soya milk, TVP and breakfast cereals

      Based on a table by Dr Michael Klaper,

      used with his kind permission

      HERBS AND SPICES

      Herbs and spices really give flavour to

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