IT ALL STARTED WHEN...

I (Tottie) became vegetarian, I was quite disappointed about how little options for vegetarian people. Until my late 20s, I hated most of the vegetables. My friends from high school still make fun of me about my unhealthy diet and the times when we used to go to a sandwich shop near my school for lunch and I always ordered like this… "Could I get a Teriyaki chicken sandwich? And please don't put any veggies...!" (meaning it's just a bread, cheese and chicken). 

One day, I my boyfriend at the time invited me to a family lunch in Madrid and his mother, Barbara made us a wonderful vegetarian meal. I still remembered that I was very amazed how rich and delicious the meal was. The meal was simple yet extremely tasty. I then understood why Spanish people used to have siesta after the long lovely family lunch :)

Nowadays vegetarian cafes are becoming popular in Tokyo as well but I personally don't enjoy fancy vegetarian meals that look beautiful but do not satisfy my stomach. I simply love the food that makes me feel happy and comfortable.

I wanted to acknowledge the most amazing two beautiful mothers of mine here. The recipes I am sharing with you here are mostly I learnt from my mother and I modified them for vegetarian and vegan. I loved that we used to cook together when I was young. I made my recipe book everytime she told me a new recipe. She put a lot of efforts for her 4 daughters and served us very well-prepared meals. We were also lucky to be able to have organic and non-artificial foods even though I couldn’t appreciate it when I was a little.

Some of the Spanish recipes are from Barbara who guided me to a path of vegetarian without losing my passion in food and cooking. I also love that she used a lots of seasonal vegetables and her recipes are quite simple. You can cook without knowing any cooking techniques, and it is like a mindful cooking. I started sharing her recipes to my friends and not everyone is vegetarian yet everyone loves her recipes. Barbara is one of the most inspiring people I've ever met in my life. She is beautiful both inside and outside. She is incredibly caring, humble and down to earth showing me what the family really is like.  Her generosity and hospitality for not only her family and friends but also others are exceptional. She is always ready to give me a hand regardless of her busy life, remembering small things and details I told her and she surprises me how attentive she is.

My hope is that people in Japan who are interested in becoming vegetarian but find it difficult (traditionally it's not so easy as most of the meals contain some kind of fish/meat very often) will benefit from the recipes and enjoy the comforting meals.