Recipe: Baked Tofu Reuben

After B.'s mother served us a delicious dinner that involved baked tofu with braised peppers and tomatoes, B. discovered a new appreciation for the soy food and requested we make another attempt at tofu reubens. I combined our tested and true approach of the marinate and bake method with this reuben recipe by Vegan Dad. Basically, instead of pan-frying and simmering tofu, I sliced it ultra-thin and used a slightly altered version of Vegan Dad's "corned tofu" seasoning mixture as a marinade. I also added apple juice to the marinade since we've had such luck with it in the past.

Slice a block of firm tofu (about a fourth of a block of tofu per person) thinly, into rectangles about a quarter inch thick. The orientation and size doesn't matter too much. If desired, press tofu with a heavy weight while you make the marinade.

Marinade:

1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
1 1/4 cup water
4 tsp seasoned salt
4 tsp paprika
4 whole cloves
1 tsp allspice
2 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp garlic powder

Bring to a boil on the stove-top and then cover and turn off. Meanwhile, make the dressing: equal parts minced pickle, vegan mayo, ketchup and mustard (we did about a quarter cup each, not worrying about having extra). Chill spread until ready to eat.

Arrange the tofu slices in a single layer in a Pyrex baking dish. Pour the warm marinade over the tofu and set aside to marinate (refrigerating is probably not necessary--we didn't have room so we stuck it in the wintry-cold garage), for at least 3 hours.



Bake tofu for 45 at 375 (this was an experiment, all our marinade had evaporated after 45 minutes---I would have done it longer). About 15 minutes before serving, slice and caramelize half an onion. Add sauerkraut to the pan and warm through. Prepare the bread by sprinkling about two tablespoons of Italian Blend Daiya cheese on one piece of bread per sandwich, and toast in a toaster oven on medium. Toast other half of bread and spread with dressing. Layer tofu, sauerkraut and onion on top of cheesy bread, add the other piece of bread and grill briefly. Slice in half and serve with a petite dill pickle.



As a change of pace, we used Alvarado Street Bakery sprouted rye (a nice, healthy vegan option found in most grocery stores these days), and some standard jarred kraut. Mostly this was an excuse to try out Daiya cheese--I had heard varying things about it, but one theme was that it's better the more melted it is, hence the open-face toasting to get it good and melty.



As for the review, the sandwich was good, one of the better tofu reubens I've had, though the tofu could have marinated and baked longer. We should have increased the marinade. It's always better to have too much rather than too little. As it was, after 45 minutes the marinade had evaporated. While the tofu had a lot of flavor (and actually, I thought was a little too salty), we would have liked it even chewier and more saturated. We were also a little overly hesitant with the Daiya--I could taste the light layer of shredded cheese but not quite enough to really evaluate its contribution. We'll probably try this recipe again. B.'s parents, open-minded omnivores, claimed to enjoy it.




***

We used up the Daiya cheese for pizza night, but wanted to give the tofu another try, especially since we had extra Reuben sauce. We used about 1/3 of a cube of tofu (previously frozen) and the following marinade (basically just increasing the water and apple juice concentrate):

Marinade:

1 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
2 cups water
4 tsp seasoned salt
4 tsp paprika
4 whole cloves
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp dried mustard
1 pressed garlic clove

Like before, I brought the marinade to a boil and then let it sit for about 5 minutes before pouring it over the tofu, which I had sliced thinly and arranged in a single layer on a Pyrex baking dish. I did this all at about 5 pm the night before we planned to eat the reubens for lunch, letting the tofu marinate for about 19 hours. I only baked it for about an hour at 350. B. was really interested in getting a chewy texture on the tofu, so we finished it off by pan-frying it in some olive oil right before we put the sandwiches together. The steps were:

1. Remove tofu from oven
2. Caramelize onion (about a third of an onion for two people) and set aside
3. Pan fry tofu slices in olive oil until browned
4. Deglaze pan with some sauerkraut juice; add desired amount of sauerkraut to pan with onions and warm through
5. Meanwhile, toast bread and spread with Reuben sauce
6. Construct sandwiches and enjoy!

This worked out pretty well. The tofu and kraut-onion mixture were warm enough to give the sandwich a good temp despite the fact that the toasted bread had time to cool down. B. liked the approach of marinating and baking and then pan-frying, and thought that slicing the tofu a bit thicker would give it a good variation of textures--chewy on the outside, soft on the inside. The tofu was chewier and more flavorful than the first attempt, due to a very long marinating period and extra apple juice. I also think the fact that the tofu had been frozen and then thawed before marinating made it a bit chewier as well. Over all, a pretty good sandwich.

Veganization: Vegetarian Reuben at Cup and Saucer

Sometimes, you just have to take one for the team.

I enjoy the fact that this blog is very specific. And I have a goal that it be very comprehensive as well -- meaning that I not only review every vegan reuben in Portland, but do my best to veganize every vegetarian reuben in Portland. This goal sent me to such unlikely places as the Goose Hollow, where I ingested a very dry vegetable and sauerkraut sandwich. Obviously, you draw the line somewhere. I would never blog about a sandwich that was basically just sauerkraut on rye. But when you hear that a place like the Cup and Saucer offers a tofu reuben, this being an establishment that is pretty vegan-friendly and well-loved by many brunching stumptownie, you feel compelled to go forth and document. It makes me a little jealous of sites like Stumptown Vegans, who probably only feel compelled to go out and review vegan food that is potentially good. But I console myself by thinking that I am still doing a service for the vegans and vegetarians out there by investigating even the less promising possibilities.

But I was certainly not excited. You won't even hear B.'s take on this sandwich, as I didn't force him to sample it (he doesn't like tofu much to begin with). I heard about the reuben when I led the vegan pub crawl ride for Pedalpalooza about a year ago. Someone on the ride heard about this blog and told me about a really bad tofu reuben they'd had. "I think the tofu was like, steamed or something." I think my response was, "Nooo! Why did you tell me? Now I have to go eat it and review it." Back in Portland for perhaps the last time in awhile, I made it over to the Cup and Saucer's northeast location.



The vegetarian reuben is described as a vegetarian version of their classic reuben, with the meat replaced by tofu. I already knew the dressing was not vegan, so when the waitress said, "So you are basically getting a tofu and sauerkraut sandwich on toasted rye," I didn't bat an eye. To her credit, she was nice about it. Note that she clarified about buttering the bread or not -- something to keep in mind if you are ordering at hot sandwich at this joint. I was already eying the various hot sauces on the table as candidates to doctor this bland meal. I also asked for stoneground mustard on the side, and she brought me a whole squeeze bottle. The sandwich is $8.50, and I do respect that you can have soup, salad or fries on the side, though the soup of the day is not always vegan. I asked for sherry vinaigrette on my salad, expecting it to come out in a little cup so I could maybe drizzle a little on the sandwich and see if subbing a vegan dressing for the Thousand Islands might work -- unfortunately the salad came already dressed and the dressing was either really bland or of a small quantity, because I could barely taste it.





To be honest, after my first bite, my initial impression was that it was not as bad I was expecting. The bread and kraut were fine. Unfortunately, the tofu was essentially a thin slab that had apparently just been lightly browned on the grill. This is a good example of the failing of many a vegetarian reuben (less so TRUEBENS, I think): YOU CANNOT JUST REPLACE THE CORNED BEEF WITH SOME RANDOM PROTEIN. Many vegetarian reubens rely on the cheese and dressing to essentially mask the lack of flavor. This is a cop-out and not respectable at all. I'm not saying all vegetarian reubens must be just as good vegan -- they are, after all, vegetarian reubens, not vegan reubens. But it's really lazy to just slap a random bland vegetable or protein on there (for example, the tomato vegetarian reuben at the Widmer pub in North Portland), and call it good. No wonder so many meat-eaters scorn vegetarian food.

But anyway, yes, the first bite was not as bad as expected. Of course, I had already slathered that portion of the sandwich with mustard. The pure tofu and kraut and rye bite was pretty horrible. I ended up employing both Aardvark and Chipotle Tabasco hot sauce to make it edible. The salad was generous, and fine, aside from the bland dressing.

So the lesson...if you are vegan, never order this sandwich. If you are vegetarian, you should probably never order this sandwich was well. Go for a tofu scramble or a vegan cornmeal pancake or even the veggie burger, which is cheaper and sounds a lot more appetizing, even if it is a Boca patty or something. And if you think you would like to try your hand at your own vegan or vegetarian reuben, learn from the mistakes of the Cup and Saucer. Be thoughtful about your meat replacement. Marinate!

Cup and Saucer
Locations in NE and SE Portland
$8.50 for a tofu reuben with side salad, soup or fries, leave off dressing and cheese.
Rating: 1

April Round-Up

"...indisputable evidence..."?



...that vegan leprechauns do exist?



Wedding season is coming up, and here's a resource for vegan wedding hors d'oeuvres-- I have to admit, the "Mini Open-Faced Vegan Reubens" sound pretty good, and apparently can be frozen for later.

You, too, can finally enjoy vegan reubens, while camping!

I feel tempeh reubens are a bit over-represented on this blog, so here's another tofu one for you, at My Veggie Kitchen.

Lastly, I was happy to see this inventive and tasty new recipe pop up. Thanks, Rhymes with Vegan!

Reuben experiments and a vegan wine review!

B. came for another visit earlier this month, to coincide with my spring break. A couple months ago I purchased a BlendTec Total Blender (and I've actually created a second blog devoted entirely to it). One thing I love about the BlendTec is the ability to reduce whole fruits and vegetables to juice, without any peeling or left-over pulp. Since we'd had good luck with apple-based marinades, I was eager to experiment with the blender in creating a marinade for reubens. We added beet, for the color mostly, and because I'd seen at least one other reuben recipe that employed beet juice.

Beety Reuben Marinade:

1 large apple, quartered and cored
1 medium beet, trimmed and quartered
1 small knob of fresh ginger, peeled
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

We tossed all these ingredients into the BlendTec and ran it on the Whole Juice cycle. The result was a very red, soupy yet thick marinade. We had about half a block of left-over tofu, which I sliced thin and laid in a Pyrex dish, then covered in marinade. We put thinly sliced white mushrooms in a bowl and added the rest of the marinade. Both sat in the fridge over night.

The next day, we baked the tofu for about an hour at 425, flipping part way. For the mushrooms, we first sliced up most of a medium yellow onion, sauteed it until softened, then added the mushrooms and sauteed until the mushrooms had cooked down a little. The marinade was so thick, it stuck with the mushrooms and turned out to be more of a sauce as well. It wasn't bad, but I don't know if it was preferable.

Both sandwiches got the same reuben sauce from this post, and this local raw sauerkraut, from Farmer's Daughter in Carrboro.



Tasty! We ate the tofu on a light deli rye baked at the local co-op, and the mushrooms went on the same dark 100% rye from the earlier post. Both toasted of course.

We tried the mushroom first, paired with some vegan syrah from Frey Vineyards that I'll get more into later.



The beet flavor was pretty strong, but the onions and mushrooms still came through. I liked the tofu the best I think---tofu is a great medium for a strong marinade, and of course takes on color quite well. I did end up adding a little Siracha hot sauce to my tofu reuben. After tasting the mushroom one, I thought it would be complemented by a little more spiciness. B., who is officially a tempeh fiend I think, missed the meaty texture that nutty soy product provides. I really like the raw, local kraut---the woman who runs Farmer's Daughter is a pickling genius in my opinion---but it is a little milder than your average kraut, and was perhaps a bit overpowered by the beet, in the case of the mushroom version at least.



I wasn't disappointed by either of these sandwiches, but I wasn't blown away either. I think in future experiments, I will use a minimal amount of beet, maybe just a few slices, and probably add more water so that the marinade functions more like a marinade and less like a sauce.

Now for the wine! I'm excited about this inaugural product review. And after visiting the Frey Vineyards website, I'm genuinely excited that this environmentally-friendly, vegan wine is not only delicious, but affordable. B. and I both immensely enjoyed the Syrah and the Chardonnay. I'm the type of person who rarely spends more than $15 on a bottle of wine, so when I found I really, really liked Frey's offerings, I assumed that it was an expensive, high quality wine that would typically be out of my price range. Upon investigating the website though, I found that at least currently, they have some great deals.

So, did you know that alcohol isn't always vegan? It's something that annoys me, but I often utilize a "don't ask, don't tell" type of approach, mostly just because there are very few alcoholic beverages that will state on their label whether they contain animal products (or used animal products at some point in processing) or not. Luckily, I enjoy hoppier ales as opposed to stouts, which more frequently include dairy. Frey Vineyards, which by the way was voted Best Vegan Wine by VegNew Magazine in 2007, states this on their website, "No animal products are used in the making of Frey Wines, such as egg whites, gelatin, or dairy-derived substances."

Like I said, our impressions of the wine flavors were very good. I like red wine over white typically---the syrah was complex and sweet, but not overly sweet. B. and I decided it would go well with a spicy, rich meal--probably would go great with a tempeh reuben with a lot of heat and spice. The Chardonnay was light and pleasantly dry, probably the best white wine I've ever had.

So check out the Frey Wines website. Located in Mendocino, California, their Organic and Biodynamic products have gained acclaim from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal, and numerous wine competitions. And they are almost local to Portland!

Baltimore Vegan Reubens: Liquid Earth

Get ready for the most realistic vegan reuben ever. And while I don't think I would give up other vegan reubens for this sandwich, that statement is closer to high praise than it is to condemnation.

Truthfully, there is something slightly pedestrian about this trueben. But that fact alone is what makes it so unique. Never have I tasted a vegan or vegetarian reuben that was so close to the real thing. The cheese, though mild and not overly applied (VeganRella, we were told), and the sauerkraut, in about the right proportion, the pale deli rye-- all were not memorable in their own right, but served as the appropriate backdrop for salty (but not too salty, thankfully), robustly-hued tofu "meat" that even B. thought tasted remarkably like the real thing.



This sandwich is a bit of a celebrity. It earned mention on Homicide, a cop show set in Baltimore. And with good reason. It seems exactly like the sort of thing a newly vegetarian cop would gravitate towards. We're more of the tempeh crowd, but still, this is a sandwich I would probably return for again and again, if I lived in Baltimore.

Located on Aliceanna near the Inner Harbor, Liquid Earth does feel a bit like the kind of coffee shop/juice bar/raw and vegan eatery you might find in Portland---reminiscent of places like Proper Eats and the Red and Black, but with a little East Coast edginess. The prices were sort of high, like Vita Cafe the sandwiches had no sides or even pickles, but were a buck or two higher than you'd expect in Portland. But man do they know their way around tofu-as-meat. The stuff was marinated, though appropriately dry, and thinly sliced to perfection, both in the Reuben and the Philly we had (the latter of which we ordered especially vegan, for a buck or so extra). Though there was a hummus sandwich and some nut meat raw tacos, I don't think I saw tempeh on the menu, tofu being the topping of choice. But if you do something right, by all means, keep doing it. In this case, simplicity was the ticket. As someone who obviously eats a lot of vegan reubens, I appreciate some innovation and play on the classic, with unique marinades, slaws instead of kraut, and stand-out sauces. But this sandwich reminds you of what it is all about: five relatively simple components that fit together just right.

Thanks to B. for catching the homicide reference (and having the friends in Maryland) that made this little spring break excursion to Liquid Earth possible.

Vegetable Love contest poll opens!

Just a reminder that you can vote for my entry in the Vegetable Love contest over at Fat Free Vegan now, through Friday. Susan got a whopping 34 entries, and as expected, a number were heart-shaped and used beets as well. But it's an impressive spread! Please head over there and vote for your favorite. Just for voting, you can be entered to win a Nava Atlas cookbook as well!

And while I'm at it, for a change of pace, Vegan Dad has created a tofu reuben recipe. Check it out.

Oh, and also, I have joined the club. The club of vegan bloggers owning high powered blenders. And I have a started a blog of recipes that utilize primarily this device, mostly experimental. See it at Three Horsepower Vegan.