Tempeh Reubens!

Best sandwich ever.  I’ve never had a meat reuben.  But I bet they’re nowhere near as awesome as tempeh reubens.

So Bret came to visit over the weekend and I had foods ready and waiting for him when he got here.  And I really wanted reubens and I knew Bret likes them and I figured if he didn’t want reubens then he could just watch me eating them while making loud chomping noises.  But it turns out Bret really likes reubens a bunch so it worked out super well.

I never make them because it seems like a lot of work.  But really it’s not and I’m just lazy. 

You really just need a marinade for the tempeh.  Mine consisted of this:

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup tamari

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp caraway

2 tsp mustard

1 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

(The marinade was borrowed from The Vegan Cooking School archives)

I cut an 8oz. block of tempeh into six pieces and put it in a roasting pan with the marinade and let it sit for a few minutes while I did some other stuff.  I suppose you could let it sit in the marinade for a longer period of time but I don’t really think it’s necessary.  I baked the tempeh at 400F for about 45 minutes.  Pretty much  just until all the marinade is gone from the pan and it smells real good.

While it was cooking I mixed up some thousand island dressing, which was pretty much equal parts nayonaise, ketchup and sweet relish.

So really the only thing left was assembly.  I bought some awesome rye bread that Heidelberg’s makes.  They make bread out of real bread ingredients, without all sorts of weird preservatives and things.  Good stuff.  I heated up some sauerkraut and sliced up an avocado.

Assembly goes like this: 1 slice bread -> big glop of thousand island -> two pieces of tempeh -> big glop of sauerkraut -> slices of avocado -> another piece of bread.  Cut in half.  Nom nom nom.

I managed to snag a picture of mine before devouring it.

I also made up a bowl of macaroni salad that Bret liked a whole bunch and I liked a whole bunch.  I don’t really remember measurements or anything but it was pasta, nayonaise, apple cider vinegar, salt, sugar, pepper, jalapeno and scallions.  Really simple and so tasty that we ate the rest for breakfast on Sunday.

-Ellen