Rip’s Sweet Potato Lasagna + Photos

[Letha..]

This is Rip Esselstyn’s Sweet Potato Lasagna. Here is a link to the recipe.

http://engine2diet.com/recipes/dinner/r ... o-lasagna/

I’ve made vegan lasagna before using soy based fake mozzarella, ricotta, and parmesan. This recipe interested me because it had none of those things and it had gotten good reviews.






















Letha’s Notes:

I used yams instead of sweet potatoes.

I used grated zucchini instead of spinach.

I left out the dried basil and rosemary because I didn’t have any.

The recipe called for 1 head of broccoli and I used one bunch, plus I peeled the broccoli stems and chopped and added those as well, which I think made my veggie layer a little too thick.

I chopped most of the veggies with my newly discovered toy, an alligator chopper. It worked well.

I used white flour lasagna noodles instead of whole grain & one package of noodles instead of two. The package had 18 noodles which was six per layer which seemed like enough to me.

I cooked the lasagna noodles according to the package directions before assembling the lasagna instead of using dry noodles as the recipe instructed because I’ve had bad luck in the past using dry noodles in lasagna recipes. But the lasagna came out a little too moist. Next time I will follow the directions and use the dry noodles or else I’ll add some other moisture absorbing ingredient like barley or bulgur.

Overall, I really liked this recipe. The yams and corn worked surprisingly well and it makes lots and lots of leftovers.

[nomikins]

WOW - that looks delicious! Thanks for sharing and good to see you here. I was so hoping for a two year update on your progress.....

[Letha..]

WOW - that looks delicious! Thanks for sharing and good to see you here. I was so hoping for a two year update on your progress.....

Thanks for asking Nomikins. I still need to lose 160 pounds. I got burnt out on MWL and started including regular plan items on the menu which caused me to plateau over the summer. So now I’m doing regular plan combined with weight watchers. I’ll post more about that in a few months.
Letha

[TheGreenBird]

That looks wonderful - thank you! I am going to buy the ingredients I need to make this this weekend when i go to Whole Foods today

[nomikins]

Hey, that's an update, so thanks! Keep on keepin' on.

[LauraVeg]

That looks amazing! I'll have to see if I can find brown rice lasagna (I'm GF.)

[Letha..]

GreenBird & LauraVeg,
If you make this, let us know how it comes out.

For anyone else doing McDougall and weight watchers, I put this recipe into Weight Watcher’s recipe builder and if you make it 12 servings it comes out to 7 points per serving.
Letha

[VeggieSue]

Letha,

So the only thing on top of those tomatoes (top layer) is the ground cashews? It looks cheezy to me in these pictures. It looks like they browned up like cheese would, too. Nice!

I should be able to pass this off to my husband with no problem but picky eater son is another story.

As for the noodles, I never pre-cook them anymore since I learned to just add a bit more liquid, usually some water, and cover tightly, but with this recipe requiring 2 jars of sauce, that takes care of the cooking liquid right there.

And there's something wrong with this pictorial - no boxes of tea in the background! LOL

Thanks for sharing and critiqueing the recipe - I'm sure a lot of us will be adding this to our menus in coming weeks.

[Faith in DC]

those little chop wizzards build muscles don't they? At least for onions they do.

I really like the idea of the tomatoes on top and I think it makes it look prettier.

[Letha..]

Hi Faith,
So far the hardest thing I’ve put through the chopper was a butternut squash which took a little effort and made a lot of noise. Other veggies I’ve put through it are onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, yams, apples, lettuce, kale, celery, yellow squash, bell peppers, & tomatoes. I find it's more fun then just using a knife to cut up stuff.

Hi VeggieSue,
Yea, it’s just cashews. I ground them in the Blendtec blender. The reason you don’t see any tea boxes is that this is not really my kitchen. I’m on an extended visit with family in Oklahoma & they have a much bigger and newer kitchen then me, plus lots of cool toys that I don’t have at home like a food processor and pressure cooker and a kitchen aid mixer. But I did bring my Blendtec and my Zojirushi Rice Cooker from home so I’d say I have just about everything a McDougall cook could wish for. Plus they have a dishwasher here which I don’t have at my little beach cottage. Sweet!
Letha

[StephORama]

Yum! That lasagna looks AMAZING! This might be a good Thanksgiving or Christmas dish to make (the husband and I are on strict MWL right now, so this will definitely have to be saved for a holiday, lol).

[merriweather]

Yeah, Letha, so glad to hear/see ya again.
I really wish you had a sponser so you could do a step by step cook book. I realize your recipes are often written by others, but the way you break the steps down, and take such great pics is soooo helpful.
If some one WAS doing stricktly MWL could they not sub very thin slices of white potato for the noodles?
My son does a traditional lasgne with Barrilla noodles that are made to be used uncooked. They are thin and flat. Look odd, but cook up nice. I have not done his recipe since starting McD as , well , it was traditional. I don't know the noodles might be sort of extreme processed.

[Letha..]

Hi StephORama,
I was just writing in another thread that I wanted to try making a stuffed hubbard squash. I think it would make a most excellent Thanksgiving main dish. Here’s a photo and a link to the instructions.
Letha

http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/hu ... -stuf.html

[Letha..]

Thanks for the encouragement Merriweather. Sharing photos of McDougall food that I make is just a hobby that helps to keep me on track. I find I'm more likely to try making something if I see the photo.

I do think you could try making it MWL with potato slices or perhaps sliced eggplant.
Letha

[ETeSelle]

If some one WAS doing stricktly MWL could they not sub very thin slices of white potato for the noodles?

I would be more concerned about the cashews!! Choose genuinely whole grain pasta (it is really quite brown--browner than what Letha used, it looks like) and ditch the cashews. That would be close to MWL. But basically, I think the cashews are a far bigger problem for weight loss than the pasta.