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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Rainbow Plant Life

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

1 week ago | [YT] | 775

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 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,133

Rainbow Plant Life

Happy spring, friends! Here are some recipes to celebrate the season. Links are in the pinned comment. Enjoy 🌿

▪️ Savory Asparagus Galette: A flaky galette crust studded filled with tofu ricotta and asparagus, baked until golden, then topped with fresh peas and lemon zest. Perfect for weekend brunch!

▪️ Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad: Tender roasted beets and fennel, a zippy citrus vinaigrette, and crunchy walnut breadcrumbs make this a salad for people who think they hate salads. Bookmark for Easter or Mother’s Day!

▪️ Vegan Palak Paneer: There’s no better way to use a big bunch of spinach than this! A creamy, well-spiced spinach gravy is paired with your choice of masala baked tofu or simple yet perfectly chewy saltwater boiled tofu.

▪️ Lemon Asparagus Pasta: Asparagus cooked to perfection is paired with a lemon cream sauce naturally thickened with walnuts and finished with lots of fresh herbs and capers.

▪️ Herby Potato Salad: Make use of those new potatoes coming into season with my favorite rendition of potato salad. No mayo needed for this indulgent spin on a childhood favorite.

PS: If you have a copy of my cookbook Big Vegan Flavor, there are many recipes celebrating spring produce, particularly in chapters 9 (Big Personality Salads) and 10 (Vegetables are the Main Event).

Shown here:
▪️ Garlicky Asparagus & Beans with Lemon-Infused Olive Oil (p. 379)
▪️ Glazed Torn Beets with Pistachio Butter & Mint (p. 395)
▪️ Braised Carrots & Chickpeas with Dill Gremolata (p. 419)
▪️ Shaved Fennel Salad with Grapefruit-Shallot Vinaigrette (p. 368)

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Rainbow Plant Life

Click the link to sign up and I'll send you a collection of 11 high-protein, high-fiber recipes that actually taste great: newsletter.rainbowplantlife.com/high-protein-fiber

One of the many great things about eating a plant-based diet is that when you increase your protein intake, you almost automatically increase your fiber intake because foods like beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, whole grains, and veggies have both protein and fiber 🥳

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Rainbow Plant Life

Not sure what to cook for the holidays? I've got you covered with my roundup of 40 vegan recipes that are perfect for the Christmas season 🎄rainbowplantlife.com/vegan-christmas-recipes/

Some personal faves:

1. Hot Chocolate: a luxe, grown-up version that's SO good (I like to add a little bit of whipped topping and shave some mint dark chocolate on top for peppermint chocolate vibes)

2. Vegan Moussaka: layers of roasted potatoes and eggplant, spiced "meat sauce," and a super rich bechamel sauce (I'm making it tonight for a holiday dinner!).

3. Vegan Wellington: A deeply savory loaf gets wrapped in flaky golden pastry. It is mega comforting.

4. Hazelnut Fudge: 6 ingredients, easy to make, and tastes like a Ferrero Rocher!

5. Scalloped Potatoes: Cheesy, creamy and melt-in-your-mouth potatoes. Need I say more?

I first fell in love cooking by making holiday dinners for my family and friends, so reading your reviews and hearing what you make for your holiday dinners is so special. Thank you for trusting my recipes and sharing them with your loved ones 🫶🏽

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Rainbow Plant Life

Wish someone would plan your holiday menu for you? I did just that! Sign up here: newsletter.rainbowplantlife.com/procrastinators-gu…

The free guide includes:

✅ 2 curated menu options featuring big flavor recipes (no one will miss the meat or dairy!)
✅ Complete grocery list organized by section of the grocery store
✅ Prep timelines so you can get ahead and cook with minimal stress

PS: These menus work well for Christmas too!

PPS: If you're already subscribed to the newsletter, you should have received this on Wednesday November 19.

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Rainbow Plant Life

My vegan Thanksgiving recipes for NYT Cooking are in the paper today 🥹

To grab the recipes for free, sign up here: newsletter.rainbowplantlife.com/nyt-cooking-thanks…

You’ll also receive a short piece I wrote about how I fell in love with Thanksgiving as a teenager, cooking up an enormous feast with my best friend and our families, and how my relationship to the holiday has evolved since going vegan nearly a decade ago. 

Once you sign up, it’ll automatically send you an email with gift links to the recipes! 

📸 Credit: Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.

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4 months ago | [YT] | 8,231

Rainbow Plant Life

I've been making Thanksgiving dinner since I was 16 years old and this is my 10th vegan Thanksgiving! Here are some of my fave recipes to make.

Click the link to sign up and I'll send you all 15 recipes: newsletter.rainbowplantlife.com/thanksgiving-top15…

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4 months ago | [YT] | 3,697

Rainbow Plant Life

Happiest birthday to Max!! He's not only the talented man behind the camera, he's also my best friend, partner in life, biggest support system, and the reason Rainbow Plant Life is able to not only exist but thrive.

He also makes me laugh and feel loved every hour of the day, and I feel so lucky to move through life with him 🥹

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