Cookery choice

Simon Rimmer is a chef who cooks from instinct rather than technique, as those who read his first book, The Accidental Vegetarian, will know. He first broke all the rules when, as a dedicated meat eater who didn't know how to cook, he bought a small vegetarian restaurant. Because he had no idea how one should cook, he made up things up as he went along. The result is a collection of recipes stamped with his name which have all been given a new twist. The remarkable thing is that they all work.His new book contains a selection of some of his favourite recipes that he claims to have invented, stolen and adapted along the way. Who else would have thought of adding fresh anchovies in vinegar, chilli and salted capers to a rabbit dish, or putting chicken thighs through a double marinade? His vodka and poppy-seed cheesecake is a real must, and if you want an alternative to the classic fish and chips, he provides a recipe for a coconut crumb finish, rather than batter, which adds an exotic flavour when served with sweet potato chips. Rimmer unashamedly breaks the rules, and the results are surprisingly good.

Mosimann's Fresh: A Taste of Cuisine Naturelle Anton Mosimann (HarperCollins, £25)

Healthy food does not mean joyless food, as those who know Mosimann's cuisine will appreciate. His passion for healthy organic food first brought him into the media spotlight when he created cuisine naturelle - dishes which were not laden with salt, sugar, fat or cream. Mosimann's cuisine, which he developed in the 1980's, was not designed to be dogmatic or an extreme form of cooking and eating. He just wanted to create dishes that would help us all to enjoy living well, eating well and staying well. In 1982 this was a bold and revolutionary move. In creating new recipes, he did not ban such ingredients from his dishes are bad for us in themselves. He sees them all having their rightful place in good cooking and haute cuisine, but he saw how certain ingredients could overpower a dish and take it over. This book, with superb photographs by Dan Jones, gives his favourite recipes, not all of which are strictly cuisine naturelle, because - as he says in the introduction -he wants to show that it is possible to eat healthily and occasionally indulgently. Indeed, you will find recipes in this book which suggest cream as an alternative to fromage frais or yoghurt. Unlike many chefs, who take the reader through several different cooking processes and hundreds of ingredients to get to the finished dish, Mosimman minimises the ingredients and simplifies the cooking process. There is nothing in this book that could not be attempted by an enthusiastic home cook. And those who taste the results will most certainly agree that under Mosimman's guidance we can all cook chicken that tastes like chicken and apricots that taste like apricots. A superb book, which should inspire the cook to new heights of invention.

Weeknight: Food Made Fast Melanie Barnard (Bonnier Books, £12.99)

Week nights are always a problem. You may want to eat healthy freshly cooked food, but after a full day's work and further evening engagements ahead, you may feel you lack the necessary time needed to prepare it. This has been compiled with that problem in mind. It's all about good food, simply prepared, which is as tasty as anything that's taken hours to prepare. Some recipes can be on the table in less than 20 minutes if time is particularly short, which is about the same time it would take to unpack a frozen meal, defrost it and then heat it up. As a well-stocked pantry, freezer and refrigerator is the secret to preparing meals quickly, this excellent little book includes an entire chapter detailing the ingredients that will help the cook produce a week-night meal. Instructions on how to store these ingredients correctly are also included. Because the recipes are simple and well explained, this book is ideal for young people living away from home for the first time.