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.
Comments (28)
Where can I find the nutritional information? This is a needed, important part of maintaining my health. This recipe sounds great and I want to make it, but it’s a bit annoying that this information isn’t with the recipe. Appreciate it if all recipes would include the nutritional values.
Hi Lauren,
We hear your feedback, and we’re looking into adding nutritional information to our recipes for the future. Please stay tuned for updates!
Thank you,
Courtney, editor
Forks Over Knives
Video has water for cashew cheese and tomato sauce- how much?
Amounts are given in the instructions. Step 1 for the cashew and step 3 for the tomato.
Can I freeze this lasagna? Thank you. Actually, it would be helpful to know for most recipes whether they can be frozen.
This recipe is surprising good! I really enjoyed it. I made it using onions instead of leeks and using whole wheat lasagne noodles.
Why go to the trouble of finding and buying ‘white’ sweet potatoes? Not worth the extra effort just for looks, when the orange sweet potatoes are healthier for us anyway, correct? Or at least please add a note to the recipe that acknowledges the difference.
The recipe says because they have less mature and will hold together better
Where do I find your nutritional information on each recipe
Good meal for omnivores; even looks like traditional lasagna.Next time I will double the greens and cut back by about a third on sweet potato. Lots of prep but a good “having company” meal.
I forgot to add that I think orange sweet potatoes will work just fine but it won’t have look of traditional lasagna.
I made this tonight and it was great!!! I didn’t have the white sweet potatoes but did have some orange ones that I canned and drained them and added the salt and lime and it was delicious!!! Also I didn’t have Swiss chard so I used Kale and it turned out delicious. Thank you for sharing your recipe with us. I had never made homemade tomato sauce until tonight. Will make this again for sure.
This recipe was a lot of work, but it was so good!
My typical lasagna recipe is made in a crockpot. Wondering if the cashew cheese sauce would be okay cooking that way in the crock pot for 3 hours, or if it would curdle/separate?
How far ahead can this be made? Does it freeze well?
Although this recipe took a long time to make it was definitely worth it. I’ve been vegan for over a year now and this has got to be my favorite recipe, my non vegan family loved it! Thank you :)))
What can be substituted for the white flesh sweet potatoes? I can’t find these. Thank you!
This is a labor of love. Make one thing the day before to make it go quicker. I made the sauce the day before and I’m so glad I did. I wouldn’t tell anyone this is a sweet potato lasagna just say it’s a plant-based lasagna. The sweet potato with the white flesh just blends in making it very moist and all the flavors blend very well. I made it almost exactly like the directions I didn’t add or subtract anything just make sure each component is salted well. Very good! Would make again when I have the time to make a meal like this.
Made this last night, and first responses were, “It’s different, but it’s pretty good.” By the time they finished their first servings, it changed to, “OK, this is REALLY good.” Definitely a keeper!
What can I use in place of the mushrooms, which I am highly allergic to!!! So many vegan recipes utilize mushrooms and I’m at a loss!
If you can eat eggplant, Julie, peel and add that. It is pretty neutral in flavor. Or you could use zucchini that has been sweated (cube, sprinkle with salt, let sit for 10-20 mins, rinse off, and pat try and use) or patty pan squash or just omit them and add extra sweet potatoes and everything else! Enjoy! Good for you for looking for substitutes.
Can this dish be prepared in advance and then baked when ready to eat?
Rachel Z that was not meant to be my reply to you.
I would prepare sauce, greens, cashew cheese in advance- but since the potatoes stiffen as they cool I would cook those close to assembly time.
I didn’t try it- but this seems like it would freeze well after initial baking,
We had this for Christmas dinner- it was delicious. It’s not hard to make, just a lot of steps. I actually took my time making each component then assembled it just before baking.
I always use more garlic than the recipes say.
The only thing was I could not find white sweet potatoes; and I knew they needed to be fluffy, rather than moist, so I used purple. It didn’t look bad. My husband LOVED it. He likes dry food, I like saucy- so I will serve it with extra sauce on the side next time.
BTW this may be my new tomato/pizza sauce recipe.
Is there a substitute for tree nuts. I have a family member who can eat peanuts( legumes) but no tree nuts. I am wondering about healthy substitutes? Thanks
You could try silken tofu. It is the cashews that make this creamy, so try it and see if it will work with the tofu, but be sure it is the silken kind. Let us know if you try it!
I made this last night and it turned out excellent. Tick of approval by dad which says a lot, told to “add it to the rotation”. I did double the cashew sauce though because we love our lasagne full of creamy goodness. Would avoid using field tomatoes and go for truss. Not sure why this meal doesn’t come up when searching within the FOK website, I had to Google and go in that way. Would make double batches and freeze as it takes a long time to prep. Also considering roasting slices of sweet potato and laying in next time.
The problem with these recipes for beginners is using ingredients you can’t find such as white sweet potatoes. Noticed that there was no response when a couple people asked if there was a suitable substitute.