Put the "U" in Reuben!

A week ago we went to see Forks Over Knives. Even though I like to think I know more than the average person about why we should stop eating animals, there is always more for me to learn. Also it reminds me that I need to go further than just "stop eating animals" and eat a hell of a lot more plants. I'd been in a health slump for a while now so this was exactly the reminder I needed to get back into gear and recommit myself to eating healthier, or at least making more of my own slightly unhealthy food (fried tofu!). Plus more cooking = more blogging, yay!

My new love for about a year now has been veganized Reuben sandwiches. I first had one at Real Food Daily so that was my benchmark for what they should taste like, having no remembrance of the meaty version. I tried another at Floré, and would have liked that one better, if I could find the tempeh. It was in strips and it seemed like they got lost in all of the avocado and cashew cheese, both of which were delicious, but I needed a bit more bite in my sammich. I will give them another chance next time I am out that way.

Since I can't always travel an hour just for a sammich, I tried making the RFD version at home. I unwisely did not figure out a way to reduce the recipes so I had way too much dressing and cheese spread with no one to feed it to. However, I did enjoy eating reubens for a few days without having to sit in traffic to get to them.

Luckily my favorite cookbook queen, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, saved the day like always. I don't know how I hadn't noticed her recipe for Tempeh Reubens in Vegan With a Vengeance, which is the first vegan cookbook I ever bought. I had almost all the ingredients, so I only needed a few items from the grocery store and I was ready to go. These sammiches turned out amazing and the first round was gobbled up too quickly to get a photo. I tried to get one of today's round two, but I was in such a hurry, I still didn't do it justice. Needless to say I will definitely be making these again. I'm glad I found a scaled down recipe that isn't as fussy with the ingredients without sacrificing any flavor. I didn't even miss the cheese since I had all that avocado goodness. They're fairly easy to make so get on it!