By Chris, March 31, 2020

This delicious sandwich delivers all the flavor profiles of a Reuben using firm tofu in place of the meat. Sometimes I miss the foods I used to eat before becoming a vegetarian. Not the meat….but the flavor profiles. The Reuben has got to be one of my all time favorites! I recreated it using firm tofu that I sliced into long planks, sprinkled with ground pickling spices and baked in the oven to dry out and crisp up just a tad. This is the base for building this delicious sandwich and after having eaten my creation, I will say with boldness, I have conquered and filled the void! No longer do I dare miss this sandwich of my past, because this new version has all the flavors and textures that I have been longing for….. Victory is mine! I mean… .Ours ! lol Let’s get started!

We all have this jar of pickling spices in your pantry somewhere, don’t pretend you
don’t! lol dig this sucker out and put it to work! lol
Take about a Tablespoon of the pickling spices and grind them in your spice grinder. What’s that? you don’t have one? no problem. A mortar and pestle works well too ! In fact it’s a perfect time to get any aggression out by pounding the spices! lol if you don’t have a mortar and pestle, simple put the spices in a ziptop bag and use a rolling pin to crush the spices. Now you have no excuse lol
Slice the tofu at the short end about 1/4 inch thick slices . You could slice it longways, but I like getting more slices out of it. Also if you really need to have the color of the corned beef or pastrami, you could dunk the tofu in beet juice . I didn’t feel the need so i opted out of this step. Place your tofu slices on a sheet pan sprayed with olive oil spray and sprinkle on the pickling spice powder. I did not use any extra salt in this recipe since I am watching my sodium intake , however you can add about a teaspoon of salt to the ground spice mixture before sprinkling on the salt or just sprinkle the salt on separately. Bake them for 20 minutes on 400 degrees for about 20 minutes . Flip hallway.
Build your sandwich! Place two slices of bread on a plate and slather on Russian dressing or thousand Island dressing to both sides of the bread. Top with sauerkraut, tofu ……and
Swiss Cheese!!!!!!
Place the sandwich in a pan coated with cooking spray or a melted pat of butter and let cook for a few minutes until golden and cheese starts to bend…
ok so this is a little more than golden lol but whatever it‘s still great with those charred crispy bread.. yum!!!!! let cook on the other side til golden lol
Slice that bad boy in half , and you are set! let the flavor tasting begin!

Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 pat of butter or cooking spray
  • 1 6oz block of firm tofu sliced into 1/4″ thick slices
  • 1 teaspoon of ground pickling spices.
  • 2 slices of swiss cheese
  • 2 slices of bread
  • sauerkraut
  • Russian Dressing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the tofu short side to get more slices out of it. Slice 1/4″ thick and place on a sheet pan sprayed with cooking oil. sprinkle on the ground pickling spices and a little salt if you want . Spray the top with cooking spray and bake for about 20 minutes , turning hallway through cooking time.

Assemble sandwich by placing two slices of bread on a plate and spreading the Russian dressing on both sides of the bread. top with sauerkraut, tofu slices and swiss cheese. Close sandwich and place in a frying pan over medium heat sprayed with either cooking spray or a melted dab of butter. Cook for a few minutes on one side. Turn when golden and cook on the other side for a few minutes longer.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I did! I look forward to hearing from you and giving me feedback . If you have made a change or added your own twist.. by all means, share! I would love to know!

Thanks!

Chris