Long before kale chips became trendy or oat milk lined grocery shelves, a small vegetarian restaurant in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, was serving plant-based versions of traditional Caribbean dishes. The restaurant, Comida Vegetariana, was opened in the early 90s by Karla Salinari’s aunt and uncle as a continuation of a lifestyle that had taken root in the family decades earlier.
“I jokingly say to my community: I didn’t choose the plant life — the plant life chose me,” said Salinari. Today, she’s running a wellness brand that reaches thousands of people online and in person.
Roots in a plant-based diet
Salinari’s father first adopted a plant-based lifestyle in 1975 to address a series of chronic health issues — obesity, acne, and digestive problems. His health outcomes were “remarkable,” Salinari says.
Then her aunt, uncle, and grandparents all made similar changes, setting the stage for a family-wide commitment to healthier living through food. That lifestyle eventually led her relatives to open Comida Vegetariana, one of the first vegetarian restaurants in Puerto Rico. They offered plant-based versions of meat-heavy Puerto Rican and Caribbean staples like alcapurrias (stuffed fritters made with plantain dough), and arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas).
“Many of my family’s recipes were transformed and were so well received by the community — even back then, when this whole plant-based movement wasn’t as popular as it is now,” Salinari said.
The origin story
Salinari used to work in corporate America, mostly in finance and investor relations. But she couldn’t ignore the pull of her upbringing. Helping others improve their health, one plant-based meal at a time, became her passion.
It started as a blog where she shared pictures of her daughter and the recipes they made together. But then her social media started growing organically. People were reaching out asking for more recipes and guidance. Encouraged by the response, Salinari decided to get certified in nutrition and make the leap into full-time wellness coaching.
Then, while working remotely during the pandemic, she had an idea: to gather her family’s transformed Puerto Rican recipes (and others she’d created over the years) into a book.
That book, “The Latina Health Coach: Plant-Based Eating, Rooted in Culture,” was picked up by Simon & Schuster and became a number one new release on Amazon in its first year. Salinari’s book blends classic recipes with nutritional guidance to reduce added salt, sugar, and animal fat while preserving cherished flavors.
“We continue to celebrate the foods that are traditional to us,” Salinari said. “We give it a healthy twist, a more plant-based twist, so that it can align with what their health goals are without having them feel like they are not connected to their roots.”
Coaching and learning
That’s the ethos behind Salinari’s coaching and public speaking business, which involves collaborating with schools and community organizations to expand access to wellness education. She also works one-on-one with clients, runs group programs, and leads cooking classes.
She takes special pride in her group classes, where “we have this wonderful community of people, and we laugh together and we share stories, and we know about each other’s kids,” Salinari said. “That is a really beautiful thing, because when we do things together like that, it’s just so much more impactful.”
Salinari says her community keeps her on her toes with questions that push her to stay sharp and constantly learn. As a lifelong researcher, she embraces the challenge, aiming to be a trusted, go-to resource where people feel comfortable seeking guidance and staying informed about wellness trends.
Her clients often come to her unsure whether they can stick to a plant-based lifestyle, especially when it means cooking for entire families. But Salinari offers guidance rooted in lived experience: her own and that of her family.
She tells them: “If you’re thinking that you’re going to eat this piece of tofu and it’s going to magically taste like pollo guisado (stewed chicken), then I hate to say but it might disappoint you,” Salinari said. “But if you’re open to saying, ‘okay, this is good enough; I can get used to eating this,’ then that’s how you slowly start to encourage them to continue on.”
She notes that small changes, like swapping chicken for chickpeas or cutting back on cheese, often lead to lasting habits.
Taking a leap with family
That philosophy has helped her build a loyal following online, where she shares not just recipes, but snippets of her life, tips for shopping and meal prep, and motivation for anyone trying to live more consciously.
“I remember saying to my husband, ‘I don’t want this to just be something I do when I have free time,” she said. “ ‘I want to dedicate myself to this, and make an impact.’ ”
She credits her family — both past and present — with the courage to make that leap. Her father’s early transformation set the course, her aunt and uncle’s restaurant proved what was possible, and her own husband and 10-year-old daughter continue to support the mission every day.
“I have seen firsthand in so many people how transformative [plant-based eating] is,” Salinari said. “I felt that I had this responsibility to share my knowledge with the community and say, ‘hey, listen, you do have the power to transform your health, and you don’t have to abandon your cultural foods, and you don’t have to abandon your traditions.’ ”
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Ask about coaching or book her to speak here.
Follow on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at @thelatinahealthcoach, as well as Twitter at @OurFlipSideLife.
Email at info@karlasalinari.com
