Darshana Thacker Wendel
Darshana Thacker Wendel is a whole-food, plant-based chef and former culinary projects manager for Forks Over Knives. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, she is the author of Forks Over Knives: Flavor! She created the recipes for Forks Over Knives Family and was a lead recipe contributor to the New York Times bestseller The Forks Over Knives Plan. Her recipes have been published in The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook, Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook, Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health, and LA Yoga magazine online. Visit DarshanasKitchen.com and follow her on Instagram for more.
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Comments (37)
I make my own vegetable broth I save scraps and freeze then pull some out boil with water , discard the scraps a you have broth . Next time I’ll add more veggies but enjoyed this recipe
I just made this recipe and love it! Was very easy to prep. Creamiest and tastiest vegan risotto I’ve ever made/had. I added about 3 cups of fresh chopped spinach to mine in addition to all the other veggies.
After reading some of the reviews, I made it with steel oats and prepared them like risotto-put the oats in a hot frying pan and added warm broth, a little at a time, continuously stirring. While the oats were cooking, I cooked the mushrooms in a separate pan and put them aside. In the empty mushroom pan, I cooked the rest of the vegetables. When the oats were done, I put everything together and then added coconut liquid aminos. My husband, who is not WFPB, and I loved it.
Delicious! I will definitely make this again.
I just made this using steel cut oats instead of rice and seasoned with tamari soy sauce to taste at the table. It was very good!
Relatively easy way to enjoy more veggies in a different way
In step 2, do you add the mushrooms to the cooking rice or do you wait the 45 minutes until the rice is done?
I have always added to the cooking rice.
The dishes look great. I’m eager to give them a try.
This recipe has been approved by two picky non-vegans. I did add a few teaspoons of nutritional yeast for a bit of a cheesy flavor. It was a bit blah without it.
You can also use steel cut oats and cook as you would a traditional risotto. I saw that done on a MasterClass. I’m going to make this for dinner, but use the steel cut oats.
making this today thankyou!
Risotto is a style of cooking in which stock/broth is slowly introduced, generally, to Arborio rice, causing the starches in the rice to create a somewhat firm yet creamy texture. This recipe’s rice choice nor its style of cooking correctly honor the true Arborio process.
I agree with Mr. Snyder’s recipe name: “Brown Rice with [Lots-of-]Vegetables.”
Excellent because it doesn’t require too much salt.
I will take it into consideration and give it a try.
Should call this “brown rice with vegetables”. Not Risotto. C,mon. Not Risotto.
Water sauteing is the term to use when cooking without the oil. So many recipes automatically call for oil when it is not needed to cook the garlic or mushrooms or meat, and the flavor of the dish is just fine without it. Calorie dense oils are the dinosaurs of older cooking style. I set a partial cup of water (or broth, or in some cases pineapple juice) alongside my saute pan and add a bit as necessary.
Ooo, pineapple juice! Gotta try that one.
@Jean Legge – great insight, thanks for sharing!
I’m on WW can you give the nutritional info? Cal, fat sodium ect..?
I am also on ww. I bought the points calculator and you can calculate everything
There are several sites on line that you can calculate your nutritional info as lots of recipe sites do not provide that information. One site is my.whisk.com but there are many more.
Love this recipe. Will use cauliflower rice to replace rice for low carb
I’m curious how to cook the cauliflower rice to make the risotto. I’m new to WFPB so any hints will be greatly appreciated.
you do not serving size or how many servings your recipes are
Nancy – Risotto is usually a one-pan dish that is cooked with Arborio rice very slowly over about 20-25 min until all liquid added 1 cup at a time gets dissolved, and is finished with Parmesan cheese and drizzled Olive Oil. Typically, Olive Oil is added to a pan until hot and then base ingredients (onions, ginger, garlic, whatever) are added and cooked until translucent. Arborio rice is added and toasted slightly, and then you add 1 cup of hot liquid (chicken stock, veggie stock, water, etc depending on what flavor profile you want to cook). You cook this slowly (medium-low heat) until almost all liquid is absorbed, and then you add 1 cup of liquid and repeat. You do this until the rice is tender but not mushy. Then, you’d add in your cheese at the end along with any cooked veggies like peas that you just want to fold in and then finish with a drizzle of Olive Oil. Since FOK is WFPB, it doesn’t use oils or animal products, so no oils or cheeses are used. This recipe has been modified to support the WFPB lifestyle.
I haven’t tried this recipe, but it looks good. I’ll use Brown Rice or maybe Wild Rice, I’ll stick with the slow-adding-of-liquid method rather than how they say to add all liquid at once in order to make it true risotto fashion – plus you never know how much liquid your rice will really absorb since you’re cooking it uncovered. I may change up the veggies added, but this sounds like a great base risotto recipe! Try it! You may like it! 😉
When you say heat up garlic , you omit olive oil, is that right?
Just in a dry pan???
HELP!!!!!
Yes dry pan, adding in water as needed when things start to stick
with garlic one needs to be careful you do not burn it, which can happen quickly so keep a good eye on it … NO oil though 🙂
If you preheat your pan for a couple of minutes and then add the garlic (or whatever vegetables you’re using in a particular recipe) they are much less likely to stick. If they get dry and start to stick a little, add 1 TBS of veggie broth or water. Works great!
You can heat it up in a non stick pan and add a little broth.
Francyne – while the recipe does say to use just a dry pan, you can also use just a splash of water or vegetable broth to help keep the garlic from sticking.
Excellent question!! Dry pan??
I don’t see risotto in the ingredients. But it says risotto in the last instruction
Nancy – Somehow, my comment to you ended up under Eileen F.’s above. Please read it.
Brown rice. Risotto is the finished product.
we make this at least once a month.
Hey Tom Bombadill, Tom Bombadillo! 🙂
Did you add any additional seasoning? Mine came out a bit bland.