Tempeh Reubens!

In the folly of my youth, I spent large quantities of time hanging out in a 24-hour diner with my friends, smoking cigarettes, drinking cup after cup of coffee, and eating some seriously delicious if not nutrient-bereft foods. Cheese Blintzes were a personal favorite, and coming in just second was a delicious corned beef Reuben sandwich, smothered with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and thousand island dressing. All on a clue slices of heavily buttered, pan-fried, Jewish Rye. In retrospect, it sometimes shocks me that I didn't have a coronary at 20, considering the amounts of nicotine, caffeine, sugar, and saturated fats (probably all trans-fats at the time) that I was pumping into my port little body. The real irony is, of course, I was skinny as a rail. Go figure.

Flash forward several years, and I'm sitting here writing a wellness blog, having basically given up on animal, exercising regularly, and diner-free for months if not years. One of the staples on many vegetarian/vegan menus these days is a tempeh Reuben, A slice or two of marinated tempeh (a fermented soy product with a meaty texture) topped with sauerkraut, vegan thousand island dressing, and some rice-based "cheddar cheese."

I consulted a few different recipes on the net, but this was essentially the product of just winging it, as it were. Marinate the tempeh in soy sauce, worcestershire, Bragg's, balsamic vinegar, or any conglomeration of the above to give it a nice flavor. Tempeh, like tofu or quinoa, is going to take on the flavor of what you cook it in. I used some Bragg's and Worcestershire sauce, cut the tempeh into thin slices, and brought it to a simmer for a few minutes in a sauce pan. You could throw in some ground cumin to give the amrinade an especially meaty flavor, but as you know, meatnessosity is not a quality to which i feel other types of foods need to aspire. Then I reserved the marinade, added some oil to the pan, and cooked the slices until they were nice and golden brown on both sides. I did this with a pan full of tempeh and it took forever, next time I'll just brown one or two pieces at a time, in the center of the pan. I also se an electric range, which gas-stovetop people tell me is just inferior in most respects. It is my suspicion that evenly heating the surface area of a saucepan might well be one of the bigger flaws.

The dressing was a quick easy mixture of veganaise, organic ketchup, and about a teaspoon each of capers, dill relish, and something else. Can't remember. Old age.

I then added sliced Jewish rye to the pan, spread dressing on the "top" slices, added the cheese, and some well drained sauerkraut, putting the sliced tempeh on the bottom slices. Give it a few more minutes to toast in the pan, and when the cheese starts to melt, you can put the sandwich together and enjoy.

If you don't want to mess around with tempeh, just toast the bread, and substitute some fresh avocado, and/or some mixed greens with a light vinaigrette. If you don't want to mess around with avocados, (shrugs) I feel sorry for you. And as The Immortal Erykah Badu says, if you don't wanna be down with me, you just don't wanna be down.

It's all about attitude, my little vegan chickens.


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Location:Madison, CT