I bought this book for my partner a year ago, but since then have used it mainly myself - barely a week goes by without dipping into it for a recipe or some advice, and it is freqently used daily. It contains an amazing variety of recipes, as well as basic advice on choosing, preparing and cooking all manner of vegetables, pulses and grains, sprinkled with readable comments and anecdotes. One of the first recipes we tried was the grated beetroot and shallots - I had never been a fan of beetroot, but this recipe converted me - amazing flavours and texture, unlike anything I had ever cooked before, and incredibly easy to make (it took less than 15 minutes and required only a few ingredients). My only criticism would be that the structure and presentation of the book seems sometimes a little fussy, sometimes a little arbitrary, and because of this we rarely venture beyond the first section on vegetables, with the occasional foray into pulses and grains. However, it contains enough recipes (probably a couple of thousand) to make any random dip throw up surprises, and to last a lifetime (though you may have to forego some of the more esoteric ingredients or substitute alternatives if you are just after a quick idea for tonight's dinner, but we have never found this to be too much of a problem).