“Eat the rainbow” is great advice — different colors mean different nutrients — but it’s easiest to actually do when you build it into your meal prep. The rainbow-eats guide: the case for rainbow prep, how to build the colors and how to make it work.

The Rainbow-Prep Case

Why prep the rainbow: the colors-mean-nutrients (the different colors delivering different phytonutrients from the phytonutrients-by-color chapter — the the-colors; the color-variety), the prep-makes-it-happen (the meal-prep making rainbow-eating consistent from the eat-the-rainbow chapter — the the-prep; the prep-ensures-it), the nutrient-density (the colorful meals being nutrient-dense from the eat-the-rainbow chapter — the the-density; the nutrient-dense), the the-variety-prevents-boredom (the color-variety keeping prep interesting from the eat-the-rainbow chapter — the the-variety; the not-boring), and the reframe (the rainbow-meal-prep as a nutrient-dense, phytonutrient-varied, prep-ensured way to eat-the-rainbow).

The Build-the-Colors Method

Building rainbow meal prep: the the-cover-the-colors (the including each color-group (red, orange, yellow, green, blue/purple, white) from the phytonutrients-by-color chapter — the the-colors; the all-the-colors), the the-red (the red produce (tomatoes, peppers, berries) from the phytonutrients-by-color chapter — the the-red; the red-group), the the-orange-and-yellow (the orange/yellow (carrots, squash, citrus) from the phytonutrients-by-color chapter — the the-orange-yellow; the orange-group), the the-green (the greens (leafy, broccoli) from the phytonutrients-by-color chapter — the the-green; the green-group), the the-blue-purple (the blue/purple (berries, cabbage) from the phytonutrients-by-color chapter — the the-purple; the purple-group), the the-white (the white produce (garlic, onion, cauliflower) from the white-vegetables-defense chapter — the the-white; the white-group), the the-batch-colorful-components (the batching colorful components to mix from the eat-the-rainbow chapter — the the-components; the colorful-components), and the the-seasonal-colors (the seasonal, colorful produce from the seasonal-color-eating chapter — the the-seasonal; the seasonal-colors).

The Make-It-Work Notes

Making rainbow prep work: the the-batch-colorful-veg (the batch-roasting/prepping colorful-veg from the eat-the-rainbow chapter — the the-batch; the prep-the-colors), the the-mix-and-match (the mixing colorful components into meals from the eat-the-rainbow chapter — the the-mix; the combine-colors), the the-add-color-to-each-meal (the color at each meal from the eat-the-rainbow chapter — the the-each-meal; the color-per-meal), the the-smoothies-for-color (the color-coded smoothies from the smoothie-color-coding chapter — the the-smoothies; the colorful-smoothies), the the-seasonal-shopping (the seasonal colorful-produce from the seasonal-color-eating chapter — the the-seasonal; the shop-seasonal), the the-family-friendly (the colorful meals for picky-families from the picky-family-rainbow chapter — the the-family; the kid-friendly-colors), the the-store-properly (the storing prepped produce well from the eat-the-rainbow chapter — the the-storage; the store-well), and the frame (rainbow-meal-prep as batch-colorful-components-covering-all-color-groups, mixed-and-seasonal — a week of colorful, nutrient-dense meals. Batch a week of rainbow meals — cover all the color groups (red, orange/yellow, green, blue/purple, white), batching colorful roasted-and-prepped components to mix-and-match, adding color to each meal (and color-coded smoothies), shopping seasonal: a week of colorful, nutrient-dense meals.

“Eat the rainbow” is great advice — different colors mean different phytonutrients — but it’s easiest to actually do when you build it into your meal prep. Build the colors: cover each group (red, orange/yellow, green, blue/purple, white — tomatoes, carrots, greens, berries, garlic), batching colorful components to mix. Make it work — batch-roast/prep colorful veg, mix-and-match into meals, add color to each meal (and color-coded smoothies), shop seasonal, keep it family-friendly, and store it well. How to batch a week of colorful, nutrient-dense meals.