Rainbow Plant Life

Last year, I read Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and it kinda changed my life. It’s an account of her family’s year-long experiment of eating only locally sourced food in rural Appalachia.

While I knew I wouldn’t be able to grow all my own produce any time soon, I figured the least I could do was shop at my local farmers market every single week.

While I've always loved shopping there, it wasn't until I read this book that I made a commitment to go every single week (unless I was traveling) and to buy the majority of my produce there.

Over the last year or so, we’ve fine-tuned our setup to make it easy to move around the market:

✅ Cart on wheels (no more lugging bags on my shoulders)
✅ We put large standing tote bags at the bottom of the cart. That way, we can layer heavy produce on the bottom and more delicate items on top.
✅ We attach reusable mesh produce bags to the cart hooks so we can easily access them while shopping.
✅ When we get home, I wash and trim whatever can be prepped in advance to make it easier to use during the week.

It's become a tradition we both look forward to every weekend. Not only do we get to eat amazing produce, but we also get to know the farmers who grow our food.

PS: If you ever see me at the market, please say hi :) I love meeting y'all when I get the chance.

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3,112

Rainbow Plant Life

How often do you cook dry beans from scratch (versus using canned beans)?

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 747

Rainbow Plant Life

BTS of some recent recipe tests. Which one are you most excited about?

1️⃣ Vegan banh mi: still tweaking this one, but very excited to share it once it's ready!

2️⃣ Working on some tofu tacos. These were tasty, but the tofu kinda got lost in the taco fillings. Will go back to the drawing board.

3️⃣ I revamped the tofu crumbles from the tacos into a bowl situation, which allowed the tofu to shine more. Saving this one for our meal plans subscription!

4️⃣ Indian chickpea pancakes, coming this summer!

5️⃣ The perfect summer sandwich, also coming this summer!

6️⃣ Creamy tomato dal. Saving this one for our meal plans app!

7️⃣ A very luxe tofu curry. Coming later this month!

8️⃣ Crunchy Indian lentil snack. This one is in a YouTube video from 2 years ago called "lentil recipes everyone should know."

9️⃣ Kimchi & Edamame Rice Bowl. Coming to our meal plans app next month!

🔟 The best silken tofu dish I've ever tried. Coming next month!

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2,458

Rainbow Plant Life

If you’re celebrating Mother’s Day and want to shower the special mom in your life with a delicious brunch, here are some ideas, both savory and sweet!

Recipe links are in the pinned comment.

1️⃣ Best Vegan Pancakes: Fluffy on the inside, crispy edges, buttery flavor…no one will believe these are completely free of eggs and dairy.

2️⃣Banana Pancakes: Buy bananas today, let them ripen over the week, and then whip up these easy yet crowd-pleasing banana pancakes.

3️⃣ Vegan French Toast: If mom is team French Toast over pancakes, you can’t go wrong with this indulgent, fluffy yet crisp (and surprisingly eggy) French toast.

4️⃣ Savory Asparagus Galette: If mom prefers savory brunch, this one is such a fun, impressive-looking brunch idea and so seasonally perfect.

5️⃣ Breakfast Burritos: Breakfast burritos don’t sound fancy, but this is the ultimate version loaded with my signature tofu scramble and queso, plus roasted potatoes and pico de gallo.

PS: If mom prefers lighter fare, I have a whole collection of salads on the blog!

PPS: If you have a copy of Big Vegan Flavor, check out the back of the book (p. 589) for a suggested Mother’s Day menu.

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,794

Rainbow Plant Life

We're going to Spain in June for a wedding, so we'll have a few days in Barcelona and a few days in Paris!

If you have recommendations for places to eat, things to do, sites to see, please drop them in the comments 🙏🏽

1 month ago | [YT] | 1,968

Rainbow Plant Life

What's your favorite underrated pantry staple? Mine is preserved lemons!

⭐️ Flavor profile
They have such a unique flavor—umami, salty, lemony all at once—and they elevate meals from soups and stews to salad dressings, yogurt sauces, rice dishes, and more.

⭐️ How to make them
You can buy them jarred, but if you want to learn how to make them at home, I've got a whole guide on my website.

All you need are lemons and salt, plus a little bit of patience while they ferment. The process is surprisingly simple and it’s a great way to ease into fermentation.

⭐️ How to use them
The guide also includes tons of inspiration for how to incorporate preserved lemons in your cooking ⬇️

rainbowplantlife.com/how-to-make-and-use-preserved…

PS: If you have a copy of my cookbook Big Vegan Flavor, try one of these!
▪️ Pearl Couscous & Chickpea Salad with Preserved Lemon (p. 323)
▪️ Preserved Lemon Salsa (p. 184)
▪️ Spicy, Crunchy Kale Salad with Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette (p. 374)

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1 month ago | [YT] | 1,024

Rainbow Plant Life

There’s a new 🌟 RPL at Home 🌟 post up on the blog!

I write these posts to connect with y’all a bit more and to share what’s going on in my life when I’m not on camera. I love writing them and hope you enjoy reading them 🤗

rainbowplantlife.com/rpl-at-home-april-2026/

This month, I’m sharing:

🦘A brief recap of our Australia trip;
🙏🏽 Re-starting a gratitude practice I’m actually excited about;
📖 My favorite books, TV show, and podcast of late;

Hope you enjoy reading it, and thank you for being here 🫶🏽

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1 month ago | [YT] | 1,667

Rainbow Plant Life

5 Meal Prep Staples To Make Your Weeknights Easy (and delicious)!

If you’ve been around for awhile, you know that I don’t like meal prepping actual meals. Instead, I prep components: flavor-boosting condiments (plus simple proteins and grains) that I can use in different ways throughout the week.

Here are a few staples in my kitchen, all new on the blog!

Recipe links are in the pinned comment.

1️⃣ Confited Tomatoes: Imagine tomatoes that taste ethereally sweet, like the most concentrated form of tomato. That’s what these are! Pair them with pastas, spread them onto sandwiches, fold in vegan ricotta or yogurt sauces (shown here), and use leftover confit oil in salad dressings or sauces. Stored properly, these last several weeks!

2️⃣ Roasted Pepitas: All you need are pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) + a tiny bit of olive oil + salt/pepper for these crunchy, salty, savory protein-rich snacks. Shower them over salads, virtually any dinner or breakfast bowl, or fold them into trail mix.

3️⃣ Crispy Roasted Mushrooms: A crunchy, salty, umami-packed topper (also packed with nutrients). I use these to top tofu scramble, grain bowls, pastas, tacos, and soups (shown here). While I don’t normally roast vegetables ahead of time, these stay pretty crisp for several days.

4️⃣ Lemon Tahini Dressing: Whenever I buy greens from the farmer's market, I try to prep a salad dressing. This is one of the ones I make the most. It's creamy, nutty, lemony, and so, so good.

5️⃣ Miso Sesame Dressing: Another salad dressing I make often! Nutty, zingy, sweet-and savory, this dressing has been known to make me eat an entire head of cabbage in a couple days 🤩

PS: If you have Big Vegan Flavor, chapters 5 through 8 are packed with sauces, crunchy toppers, simple vegetables, and proteins that you can meal prep and then mix and match throughout the week.

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 3,976

Rainbow Plant Life

My favorite books from the last month or two! What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

2 months ago | [YT] | 792

Rainbow Plant Life

We’ve been experimenting with a lot of fermented vegetables in the RPL kitchen!

Anyone else obsessed with fermentation? What’s your favorite thing to ferment? Drop your favorite thing to ferment below!

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,140