Cooking with family in Malibu
Vegetarianism has taken over my family. I was the first. At seven, I ran home from school and proclaimed I wouldn’t eat any more “chicken nuggets.” Luckily for my family, my mother is a chef, and cooking for family has always been her passion.
Back when soy milk was the only milk alternative, finding dinners to cook for me was difficult, but she always made sure to cook me vegetarian meals.
My mother spent a year as a pastry chef in France on a year long break from law school. Her cooking definitely reflects and has some European flare. She uses lots of pasta, tomatoes and olive oil.
Now, my brother Daniel and mom are also vegetarians. Plant based food has gained significant attention since and there are tons more resources and recipes to choose from.
Like most families, we reunited at the beginning of the pandemic and cooking at home became a daily practice (and the dogs were always under the table with us).
During uncertainty, my mom made sure we ate healthy to keep our bodies healthy and strong. It was a time of bonding and getting back to family roots.
After months of under eating a wildly insufficient college diet, I was sick with migraines and fatigued. My mom and her teaching me the Medditeranian diet shifted me back to better health.
During COVID, grocery stores were sold out. This forced us away from pre-cooked or processed food that people typically would get at the grocery store during busy weeks. We were forced to consider where our food came from and look to more organic, whole foods instead of processed ones.
Luckily, my mom had formed a close relationship with a small organic plant farm nearby. My mom would pick out fresh produce from this farm bringing home beautiful greens and fruits. Cooking with whole foods is another aspect of Medditerenian diet and eating. In a way, for my mom, cooking is a love language. Cooking with me and my brother is her passion because her family is her passion.
Eating healthy helped keep our immunity high and keep us healthy in general during a stressful time. I am inspired by my mother’s passion for cooking for her loved ones and hope to pass it on.
