Discovering the Joy of Vegan Cooking: A Personal Food Journey with Chef Rachel Adina Mullen on Real Food Stories

What if the secret to vibrant health and connection lies in the meals we share? Join host Heather Carey in this enlightening episode of Real Food Stories, where she converses with the inspiring Chef Rachel Adina Mullen, an award-winning plant-based chef and the author of the best-selling cookbook series, Vegan Flavors of the World. Together, they explore the transformative power of vegan cooking and how it can nourish not just our bodies but also our relationships and cultures.

Chef Adina takes us on a personal food journey, recounting her transition back to a plant-based lifestyle, a decision rooted in her childhood experiences and a desire for nourishing, vibrant meals. As a culinary nutritionist, she emphasizes that vegan cooking is not about restriction; rather, it opens a world of creativity and flavor that can enhance our healthy lifestyle choices. This episode is packed with nutrition advice that challenges common food beliefs and myths about vegan diets, making it clear that they can be both satisfying and diverse.

Adina shares her insights into the culinary techniques that elevate plant-based dishes, inspired by her travels and the authentic flavors of various cultures. Discover how her cookbooks aim to make global cuisines accessible and approachable for everyone, demonstrating that cooking for wellness can be both fun and fulfilling. The conversation also touches on essential topics like menopause health and midlife nutrition, providing empowering women with the knowledge they need to embrace their bodies and make informed food choices.

As they dive into the significance of connecting with the cultural roots of food, listeners will gain valuable healthy eating tips that resonate with personal food stories and family food traditions. Whether you’re navigating the complexities of midlife changes or simply looking to enhance your cooking repertoire, this episode is a treasure trove of culinary wellness insights. From overcoming food confusion to practicing mindful eating, Chef Adina’s philosophy is all about nourishing your body and spirit through the joy of cooking.

Join us for a delightful conversation that not only celebrates the art of vegan cooking but also empowers women to embrace their unique nutrition journeys. Tune in to Real Food Stories and discover how to make every meal a celebration of health, culture, and connection!

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Transcripts:

Speaker #0
Well, hello, everybody, and welcome back. And if you are just tuning in with me for the very first time, it’s so nice to meet you. And I’m really glad you’re here with me today. I am your host, Heather Carey, nutritionist, chef, mom, and a woman who has been around the block with food. I want to open up about real food in relation to health, weight, and our bodies so you can make peace with what you eat. Hey, everybody, and welcome back to the Real Food Stories podcast. You all know how important real food is to me for our health and our happiness. And I love nothing more than talking to other people who appreciate the same philosophy as much as I do. Chef Rachel Adina Mullen, who goes by Adina Mullen and is the founder of Adina’s Delicacies, is an award-winning plant-based chef, culinary educator, and author of the best-selling Vegan Flavors of the World, Volume 1, winner of the 2025 Zibby Award for Best Book for the Foodie and recipient of the International Impact Book Award for Inspirational Health and Wellness. Known for her innovative approach to global plant-based cuisine, she draws inspiration from her extensive travels, bringing vibrant flavors and cultural traditions to every dish. Her work has been featured on Eat This TV in the pilot series, Global Vegan Kitchen with Chef Adina, where she shares accessible, delicious recipes from around the globe. With a mission to make plant-based cooking approachable and exciting, Chef Adina crafts dishes that celebrate diversity, sustainability, and the joy of eating well. Her upcoming Vegan Flavors of the World, Volume 2, deepens the journey. highlighting authentic recipes and stories from kitchens across five continents. Welcome, Adina. I’m so happy to have you on and just talk about food and plant-based eating. It’s one of my favorite subjects of all time. Why don’t we just start, you know, this is Real Food Story, so I would love to hear your story around food, how you got into what you’re doing, and then we’ll go a little deeper than that. So for the listeners who may not know you yet, bit about your background and how food became such a central part of your life.

Speaker #1
Absolutely. Really, food became central in my life, I think, long before I ever called myself a chef. I’ve always been fascinated by how meals bring people together and how certain dishes can carry memory and culture and emotion, like all at once. So… As I began traveling and learning about different cuisines, I realized that food wasn’t just about eating, but it was all about like your identity and history and connections. And so like over time, I became more intentional about what I was cooking and how it made me feel. And so I really gravitated towards like plant-based cooking, not really from a place of restriction, which I feel like a lot of people like are constantly asking me like, oh, you’re vegan, you must restrict so much food out of your diet. And I’m like, no, not at all. I come from a… approach of it being a desire to create meals that feel nourishing and vibrant and rooted in traditions. And I especially am drawn to how many global cultures have incredible plant for dishes already that are healthy and comforting and deeply satisfying. And so what I started with was like a curiosity that I believe became like my craft and I really trained and experimented. I host a lot of dinners and lunches and stuff, and I eventually founded my… culinary brand. And I wrote, I started writing my cookbook series and I started with Vegan Flavors of the World, volume one, and then just published the second book, volume two, which has 12 other countries. And I really feel like the food became central because it really sits at the intersection for me of creativity, culture, health, and community. And I feel like it’s how I tell stories and how I connect with people and how I can express myself.

Speaker #0
That sounds great. I mean, it sounds like you were just… incredibly curious about food from the start. I can say that about myself as well, even just from a really young age, just being really curious about the relationship between food and health. And I just remember being back in middle school and high school and just the realization that food can influence how you feel physically and then mentally and emotionally and culturally, you know, all of that. And I just think it’s so fascinating. I’m just curious, Did you get into the plant? based vegan sphere because of health issues, because a lot of people, I think, start eating. We’ll talk about plant based in a second, but like, you know, that vegan, they’re not going to eat meat anymore. They’re going to just, you know, eat it. this is a certain diet, you know, that they think of it maybe as a diet. Was there something else like that, like physically that prompted you?

Speaker #1
I have a very interesting journey because I actually was born vegan. My parents were vegan and I was vegan until I was about nine. And then we moved back to America and we just started eating meat for, I don’t know, whatever reason. And I’m a child, so I just kind of went along with it. But from there, I just realized there were certain types of food that I just didn’t resonate with. And so from that point, I feel like it definitely was more of a slow evolution, especially with like what was available and what I had to like make and understanding my body. So it definitely took a long time. It wasn’t like a single dramatic moment where I was like, and I’m vegan again. So I didn’t wake up one day and decide to completely change how I was eating. it really started with like curiosity and also like some food allergies that I ended up finding out. And then while I was traveling and exploring global cuisines and noticing how many traditional dishes were naturally plant forward and incredibly satisfying, I was like, I feel better when I eat that way. And so when I, and also it was like very difficult being in a home where I was like, I felt like having to nourish my husband and he wanted to eat certain things. And I was like, I don’t want to have to make two separate. meals. But then it kind of came to a point where I was like, well, I’m going to make something I think tastes really good. And I hope that you will honor this and eat it as well and be nourished. And surprisingly, it kind of worked out that way. Because at first I would and then also make something that he wanted. And I just felt exhausted. And also like I wasn’t honoring myself. And so that’s kind of how that happened. And yeah, I just I feel a lot healthier for it. and I feel better about like my choices and… how I’m trying to impact the world.

Speaker #0
Yeah, I think choosing to be vegan is a very personal choice. And I know what you mean about the like not wanting to accommodate everyone in the household. I have three kids and I just know that, you know, when they were growing up, I’m like, this is dinner. I’m not making you something, you something, you something. I mean, I’m not going to like accommodate. And I know, you know, and you know, from like being a chef and I have a culinary background too, that like, I know my food’s going to taste good. I know I can make it taste good. I’m not giving you anything weird to eat. And so I totally get that. So your husband sort of fell in with you?

Speaker #1
No, absolutely. At home, he’s vegan. When he goes out, he can do what he wants. And I just silently judge him.

Speaker #0
Right. Judge from a distance. Yeah, that’s okay. Right. But as long as he’s doing it right. So you two are on the same page in your household. Yeah,

Speaker #1
he’s usually very satisfied. Like he gets really excited whenever a new book is. coming to fruition because like he’s like, yay, the recipes are going to be in development. That means I get to try all new food. And yeah, he’s just like, I’m going to eat good this month.

Speaker #0
He must be your number one taste tester, right? Recipe development.

Speaker #1
Absolutely.

Speaker #0
That’s great. Well, I think a lot of people think when they think of vegan and plant-based, I think there’s a decent amount of people who think like I can only eat vegetables. And I like that is so vegetables equal boring. But we know that this is not the case. Right. I mean, vegan, a vegan diet. Can you just explain for the audience? I mean, I know what it is, but can you explain like what a vegan diet is and vegan versus plant based?

Speaker #1
Absolutely. I mean, my definition of vegan and plant based, I feel like they’re kind of the same. But. The only difference I’d feel like some people would like say like vegan means you can eat anything that’s vegan and plant based means more like you don’t eat any processed vegan food. So that would be my definition on that. And then basically, if you are vegan slash plant based, it means that you don’t eat anything that comes from an animal or is an animal. So just think about it like you wouldn’t have milk or cheese or eggs or honey. I mean, then you obviously wouldn’t eat the animal. So that’s the definition. And then to kind of go back on your first question, what surprised me most about myself and how I shifted and what I can and cannot eat? Because I get this question all the time. They’re like, what can you eat? I’m like, I eat everything you eat. There’s really two things I don’t eat. Meat and products from meat. I was like, I eat everything else. So I was like, there’s a lot of food. So what surprised me most was how expansive it felt rather than limiting. I actually was like, there’s so many vegetables. Like people are like, there’s like five. I’m like, no, there’s so much. And I think that there’s an assumption that shifting towards plant-based eating means giving something up. But what I experienced was like the absolute opposite. I became more creative, more curious, and more connected to like global traditions than ever before. And instead of relying on familiar shortcuts, I had to really understand flavor and texture and techniques that… I feel like deepened my cooking in a way that I didn’t expect. And I also was surprised by like how grounded. It made me feel and the food was making me feel more like vibrant and nourished. And I felt also more healthy and like satisfied. And I feel like it was about being lighter in a restrictive sense. Like it wasn’t about feeling like I was feeling more aligned and energized. And I personally was surprised by how much confidence it gave me. And committing to a plant-based path clarified my voice as like a chef. And it also like helped me define what I stood for creatively. And. ethically. And that clarity kind of shaped now just how I like to cook, but also helped like build my brand.

Speaker #0
Yeah. Well, it sounds like you really have made peace with that and it works for you beautifully. I mean, you feel really good and healthy and energized. I think a lot of people think, well, not a lot of uneducated people think that vegan just means like, what am I going to eat? And I can’t just eat five vegetables. But, you know, I think there’s the concern about protein in a vegan diet and not getting enough. We’re so protein obsessed right now in this country. I mean, we’re like out of control, protein obsessed. We need protein. It’s one of our macronutrients. Yeah, we need really good protein. But people forget that there’s a lot of plant-based proteins that you can eat. That will totally qualify as really good protein. And I mean, plant-based proteins also. do such double duty with like so many other things. You know, when you eat beans, beans and rice together, for example, or like just beans, like take beans, for example. I mean, they’re so full of fiber. They’re so full of protein. So many other benefits besides just the straight protein from animal.

Speaker #1
Absolutely. No, I completely agree.

Speaker #0
Because it’s very, it is easy to get protein from an animal source, right? It’s convenient, right? It’s like almost like a grab and go or put something on the grill or something. So when you’re vegan, I think you just have to be a little more mindful. Do you agree with that?

Speaker #1
No, absolutely. And I mean, you can still just grab something that’s high in protein, like TVP protein or tempeh or tofu or make a pot of beans or something and then like add that into whatever you’re also eating. And then also like nuts and other things that are really high in protein. I mean, obviously, like, I think the thing that people are like, well, a lot of those things are really high in carbs. And I’m like, well, maybe some, but you’re also not going to eat like four cups of beans. Like, that would be insane.

Speaker #0
Right. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, and so and what’s wrong with carbs? You know, I mean, we’ve got a fear of carbs and we want it right. We’ve got this like love affair with protein and this intense fear of carbs.

Speaker #1
Your body needs both. Yeah.

Speaker #0
Yeah. And we need both.

Speaker #1
We can’t just only eat protein.

Speaker #0
Exactly. And I think, you know, you said something before about like most of the world. I think the reality is most of the world eats a very plant-based diet. They do not eat the amount of meat. I mean, in some countries, other countries they do.

Speaker #1
There are some countries that are very meat heavy, but yes.

Speaker #0
Yes. And here in the United States, we’re very meat heavy too.

Speaker #1
We are. Yeah.

Speaker #0
It’s kind of ridiculous, but many healthy countries do not. eat the amount of meat that we are eating and they are surviving just fine.

Speaker #1
Some of them are on the top five list.

Speaker #0
Yeah. I mean, so I think the thing too, when you also mentioned like using flavors and everything, and I think that’s when you do focus on plant-based proteins and vegetables, people think that they’re boring, right? Because I guess some people are just limited in how they think of like steaming vegetables or like just doing something kind of boring like that. So. It sounds like when you made the switch back to being vegan, you had to focus on flavor. And flavor is everything. I mean, I think when you’re eating healthy, when you were like eating healthy, whether it’s like vegan or like mostly plant-based with some animal protein, I mean, you still want to focus on the flavors and using spices and herbs and stuff because that’s what’s going to keep you coming back to it rather than falling back. on junk food and McDonald’s and processed, you know, takeout stuff, right? Tell me a little bit about your cooking background. I mean, how you got into cooking. Are you self-taught or you, did you go to cooking school?

Speaker #1
I am self-taught. I basically, when my husband and I met, I knew how to make like three things. And we both love Indian food. He grew up in India and my parents used to take me to like bhajans. And so like, it was like one of the first things I remember eating. And so we’re both college students, couldn’t afford to go to Indian restaurants every day. So I was like, how hard can this be? Well, I’m just going to start making Indian food. It’s a little high. You know, it was like thinking back, there’s probably a cuisine that you could choose that was a little bit easier. But I definitely loved it. And so it was it was really great. And I remember calling my mom asking her like, Oh, what, you know, what did you do? Because I remember she would make some recipes and I would like, be like, send that over and then I would like adapt them and stuff. But it really took off more like after that, I kind of fell in love with And I was like, I would love to work at some restaurants. And so I did. I worked at a French restaurant for a little while as their pastry chef. And obviously, it wasn’t a vegan restaurant. I would make all these desserts and then I would go home and like recreate them into a vegan recipe so I could eat them. So it was like a lot of fun for me. I felt like a chemist. And but I really learned like a lot of techniques about like different cultures. And that’s kind of where it started.

Speaker #0
Yeah, that’s great. Well, Indian food, starting with Indian food is, I mean, complex because India is a large country and there’s lots of different cultures and different types of food there. But I think the focus, the emphasis on spices and flavors and stuff is that was probably a good start. It was. No,

Speaker #1
it was great. And it’s still one of my favorite things to make. And I ended up putting it in volume two of my cookbook. So there’s like a ton of recipes that I love.

Speaker #0
That’s great. Well, let’s talk about the countries in both of your books. You said that you traveled a lot. Talk to me about the traveling. How much traveling have you done?

Speaker #1
I like to go, I think on average, I probably travel to like two or three countries a year. So a lot of it’s like places I’ve been in the past too. But I really just love immersing myself in the country and like really seeing, you know, going to local. local markets, going to restaurants, talking to people about like, you know, even just sitting with people and having like a meal in their home and understanding recipes that came down from their grandparents and their ancestors and really understanding the spices. And I think that’s just like something I really love doing and not I don’t just travel to these countries to try the food. Like I really just love visiting them and like learning more about the world. And so it’s just something I really, really enjoy.

Speaker #0
besides India, which I’m assuming you’ve been to, right? Tell me about some of your favorites.

Speaker #1
I’m obsessed with Italy. It’s like one of my favorite countries. Also, Morocco was just a joy to go to. Colombia was so much fun as well as trying to think like Turkey was a lot of fun. It was one of the first trips that I went to last year with my sister and just seeing like all the mosques and trying all the food and just being around all the people was amazing. And then just trying to think like places in Asia are just like amazing. Like your senses, like everywhere you go, there’s just like your senses are just getting over. And it’s really cool because a lot of the restaurants, especially in Japan, they put little displays of all the food out. So all you have to do is like point. So that’s good. Yeah, it’s amazing.

Speaker #0
In case there’s a language barrier,

Speaker #1
Yeah.

Speaker #0
So how many countries have you visited?

Speaker #1
I’d have to do the math. I mean, over 24.

Speaker #0
That’s great, because you’re not that old. No,

Speaker #1
I just started young.

Speaker #0
That’s fantastic. So how did you then come to decide on the recipes from each country? That must have been really difficult.

Speaker #1
Yeah, no, I mean, when I was trying to figure out the recipes, I was trying to, like, figure out how to figure out what was traditional dishes for each country. my poach was kind of like adaptation with humanity first and things that I’ve tried that I loved or things that I wish I could have had and incorporate. So like a lot of times also when I was like taking something that was very like meat based, I would approach it with an understanding of like the dish in its original context. So where did it come from? What role did it play with the culture? Is it an everyday food, a celebration food, a comfort food? And like what flavors and techniques define it. And then that research and kind of made me understand it, respect it as an essential thing. And then when I went to adapt it as a traditional dish to a plant-based, I would try to reinvent it or I wouldn’t try and reinvent it or make it something different. I would try and keep it how it was and keep the spices, keep the texture, keep the memory. I would just focus on like taking the meat. and replacing it with like a plant-based option. So the soul of the dish, the spice profile, the cooking method, the texture is like I said, and the attention behind it all remained. And then I also feel like that’s the heart of the dish. that are in the aromatic. So the way the ingredients are layered or how it’s served, presentation is like super important. So I basically didn’t want to like over-engineer anything. I just wanted to replace something like one ingredient for another kind of thing while keeping it kind of, the goal was really to keep the experience in the spirit and not create like a novelty.

Speaker #0
I think for some people, cooking is, for you and I, cooking’s comfortable, right? They were curious and were like. Like we don’t have like the fear around cooking like some people do. I mean, I have many clients from over the years who really like when they say like, I hate cooking or I’m done with cooking. Really what they mean is I’m terrified of cooking or I’ve gotten, you know, I don’t know how to cook. And I think when people then get out of like their little comfort zone of like chicken and salad, right? And then there’s recipes from Japan or India or Turkey or… You know, they’re like, no, I mean, like, because it seems too complicated to them rather than like coming at it from curiosity. They’re coming at it from fear. So talk to me a little bit about like the recipes. Are they user friendly more or less? Because some of those those spices and everything can seem like really foreign.

Speaker #1
Absolutely. I mean, and this is why I decided to do this. like when I was almost finished writing volume one. So in volume two, there’s a QR code for every single recipe that’ll take you to my Instagram page where you can watch me make the food. Because sometimes you look at a recipe or you just see the photo and you’re like, you see the end product and you’re like, this is completely unobtainable. But half the time, people will watch me make it and they’re like, oh, this is very approachable. I can totally do it. And so my hope is that they feel confident first. And then I really want the readers and people that are looking at the recipes to feel capable in their own kitchens, even if they’ve never cooked that cuisine before. So I hope they feel that the recipes guide them rather than intimidate them. And I also hope that they feel connected, connected to the culture that the dish comes from and the ingredients in front of them and that the people they were cooking for, as well as I hope that the food has… this incredible ability to bridge the distance. And I just want the readers to feel like there’s a sense of shared human experience. So I think most of all, I would hope that they’d feel nourished in a deeper way and not just physically satisfied and grounded and inspired. And I’d want them to sit down to a meal and think this is vibrant and soulful and this is like real food and that the book leaves people feeling curious and confident and more connected through the way the cook, it’s done. Like that it would be something that’s like approachable and that when they’re done, I hope that it would do that.

Speaker #0
That’s great, because, yeah, I think I think a lot of people need like easy, simple, right? They just unfortunately, you know, they they. Well, I mean, I think this gets them to then learn about more about spices and everything. You said something before that I’m just curious about. You said you wanted the cookbooks or the recipes to be an adaptation with humanity first. Tell me what that means.

Speaker #1
I mean, I really just feel like you can take things from a certain culture. You can take plant-based items and make something that’s nourishing, that is tasteful, that brings back memories of your childhood without, I’m trying to word this without triggering anyone. I don’t feel like you have to harm another being just to satisfy by yourself shortly while eating. I mean… There’s also people that say, well, plants have feelings. And I’m like, that might be true, but we have to eat something. But yeah, I just feel like it’s slightly inhumane the way that we treat animals. And I personally hope that we could honor them in a way that respects their life without having to use them as food.

Speaker #0
Okay, so this goes back to the just the vegan philosophy.

Speaker #1
Yeah.

Speaker #0
So now you have two books. which is amazing. And any favorite, like fan favorite recipes that you want to just mention something that’s been like on your mind, or you’re like eating on repeat right now, to get people excited about it?

Speaker #1
Favorite. I mean, I have this Dutch oven bread that I do tend to make pretty frequently. It’s just like, it’s actually not that hard. It’s in the first book. I think it’s in like chapter two. And it’s just so crispy and warm. And every time like, I bake it like the whole house smells like fresh bread. And I tend to make it not too frequently because I ended up my husband and I end up eating the entire loaf in one sitting. And I was like, so but I mean, it’s fine. But like, we should probably make a snack or something also. But yeah, it’s definitely something that I it’s like a comfort food that I go back to a lot.

Speaker #0
Okay. And what country is that from?

Speaker #1
The United States.

Speaker #0
Oh, it is? Okay. That’s okay. You know what? That’s a really good point.

Speaker #1
It’s only called Dutch oven bread because I cook it in a Dutch oven.

Speaker #0
Right. But that’s a really good point that all like good food is like not just about like Italy and Japan and India, right? We have good food here too.

Speaker #1
We have some.

Speaker #0
Yeah. We have a couple of good things. So that’s, that’s too funny. But that sounds good. I have, I also, yeah, I bake bread in a Dutch oven. I don’t know if maybe, well, I’ll look at your recipe and see if it’s similar to mine.

Speaker #1
Oh, I’d love that.

Speaker #0
Yeah. So how can people get your books?

Speaker #1
Absolutely. They can find them on the first books on Amazon and IngramSpark. The second book is just on Amazon. But they look like this. So this is the first one.

Speaker #0
I saw the covers are beautiful.

Speaker #1
Thank you. And this is the mock-up of the second one. I mean, it looks like this. This is just my version that I saw. Yours will not say that.

Speaker #0
Right. Okay.

Speaker #1
But yeah, no, anywhere online you can find them.

Speaker #0
Okay, great. Well, I’ll definitely put those links in the show notes so people can find them easily. And they sound like beautiful, easy to use recipes that can expand everyone’s horizons on vegan and plant-based cooking, which is, I think, needed more and more just for our health and the flavors and just to get people excited about cooking.

Speaker #1
I completely agree.

Speaker #0
So thank you so much. Thanks for talking food with me. And I’m looking forward to cooking a few of your recipes.

Speaker #1
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. Okay. Thanks. All right. Bye.

Speaker #0
And as always, if you loved this podcast, please consider gifting me with a five-star review. It is so helpful for me to get the word out on real eating, our real bodies, and real food stories. Thank you so much and have a great week. Bye for now.