FROM A MONAS-TERY KITCHEN

Inspired by the cooking of Brother Victor at a Benedictine monastery in Cold Spring, New York, Elise Boulding has assembled this collection of recipes--""an affirmation of wholeness, simplicity, and joy""--from his monastery and several in Europe. Offered, too, are sayings which reflect a huge variety of points of view, from Dag Hammarskjold to Mother Goose, Dorothy Parker to the Bible, many with rather nebulous meanings (""I once ate a pea""). The vegetarian recipes are intended to provide foods not found in other cookbooks, and although some fit that definition (Save-the-Stale-Bread Casserole, Cloister Carrots), others such as curried lentils or French pancakes are already associated with specific cuisines. A good section on herbal teas appears and four ways of preparing fish filets are indicated, but the bulk of the book is given over to the quotations which are not very nourishing.