A German Veggie

Along with pizza, Mexican food, and breakfast, another food I LOVE to make are sandwiches. They are versatile and are great for both lunch and dinner! The following dinner consists of a veggie-take on a classic sandwich, the Reuben! Instead of using corn beef, I use tempeh and the results are delicious! My corn beef-loving-fiance still devours this swap-out! Sometimes, depending on how high you stack your sandwich, a fork and knife is necessary to eat this mean-guy! But as Matt always says, the messier the sandwich, the better! I paired the sandwich with some rosemary red potatoes. These are a simple and delicious side that can compliment almost any meal!

I start by scrubbing and quartering the red potatoes. No need to peel the skin for these! I then mix the potatoes with some olive oil.

Next comes the flavor - a simple mixture of a quartered onion, minced garlic, dried rosemary and a bit of salt and pepper. See - I told you it was simple!




I then spread the potato mixture out in a 9x13 pan that has been lined with foil. It makes clean-up so much easier! The potatoes are then placed in the oven for about 40 minutes. *Tip - the smaller you cut your potatoes, the shorter the cooking time will be!*

As the potatoes are cooking in the oven, I begin my work on the Reubens. I took a picture of the tempeh package in case some of you were unaware as to what tempeh is / looks like. Tempeh is a fermented soy bean loaf that has a bit of a nutty taste. You can fry it, bake it, grill it, crumble it, slice it, marinate it - anything your heart desires! It is usually found in the produce section of the grocery store, close to the organics and other "fake meat" products.

As you can see, the tempeh comes in a long block. All I simply do is slice it for this particular recipe. Other times I will crumble it - like when making tacos or a chili.

After everything is sliced, I transfer the tempeh to a Ziploc bag that I fill with about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Similar to tofu, tempeh will take up whatever flavor you are cooking with and marinating it is especially rewarding. I use soy sauce for this particular sandwich because corn beef has a salty flavor. This makes for an excellent substitute! I let this marinate for about 15 minutes, flipping the bag over every few minutes to evenly distribute the soy sauce.

It is not suggested that you eat raw tempeh, so my next step is to fry it up a bit. It doesn't take long, just a few minutes on each side till it starts to brown.




On my griddle, I start to assemble the sandwiches. I butter one side of some rye bread and place it on the hot griddle (buttered-side down). I then spread some 1000-island dressing onto the bread.

Next up, the marinated and cooked tempeh.




The tempeh then gets topped with a slice of swiss cheese.

And to finish the sandwich off, sauerkraut and a bit more 1000-island dressing. I use canned sauerkraut, it's easy and it all kind of tastes the same to me...




And of course I top the sandwich with another slice of buttered rye bread. I flip the sandwich several times until the bread is browned and everything inside is nice a gooey!

I pull the rosemary red potatoes out, plate them, and slice the sandwiches and dinner is served! As I usually will do, I HIGHLY recommend you try out this normally meaty swap! I think you will be quite surprised by the great flavors! Unfortunately, Ronnie won't eat this sandwich; maybe it's the sauerkraut? I don't know. But otherwise, this sandwich is a regular enjoyment of Matt and myself!

Cool kids BBQ post has been postponed (obviously). As soon as I get everyone's pictures uploaded to my computer - I'll get crackin' on that! Last night I made another tempeh dish that includes BBQ and burritos! I am super-excited to share it as it turned out DELICIOUS! Coming soon! I promise!!!