National Sandwich Day

Every St. Patrick's Day, my kids and I try a new corned beefless recipe. They've been pretty hit or miss, honestly. But this year I decided to try a new recipe, with a new twist. Instead of just the regular corned beefless as part of a meal, I decided to make reubens. Since none of us have ever had a reuben sandwich, this was definitely new to us.

Vegan Reuben Sandwiches

2 pkgs. extra firm tofu, frozen, boiled, pressed, sliced into 1/8" slices
8 c. hot water
2 large beets, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. Balsamic vinegar
2 T. Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 cube no beef bouillon
6 bay leaves, crumbled
2 cinnamon sticks
12 allspice seeds
1 t. salt
1 t. agave syrup
1 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. liquid smoke
1/4 t. ground cloves
Olive oil for sauteing
Vegan thousand island dressing
Sauerkraut

Lightly brown the tofu slices in the olive oil. Drain. Mix everything, except the dressing and sauerkraut, in a crockpot. Make sure to submerge the tofu slices as much as possible. Cover and let cook on high for about six hours.

Spread some of the dressing on a slice of rye bread. Top with 2-3 slices of the tofu, add some sauerkraut and another slice of bread. Serve. Enjoy!

I like my bread toasted, but a couple of my kids used untoasted bread. Your choice. The tofu by itself is somewhat, surprisingly, bland. Suffice it to say the flavor is very mild, so eating it alone isn't as yummy. But added to bread with the dressing and sauerkraut, OMG! It is DELICIOUS! The picture does not do it justice!

I got the original recipe here. I had everything except the mustard seeds, and I doubled the recipe. My family absolutely loved this recipe, and I will definitely be making it again!

BTW, if you've never dealt with raw beets before, peeling them reveals a beautiful ruby red color. It will stain, so wash everything the red comes in contact with.