Reuben Remade

Ah, the Reuben: a classic of bars, pubs, and grills everywhere. It makes a direct connection to those three tastes that can get us into so much trouble: sweet, salt, and fat. If you are anything like me, you have fond memories of delicious reuben sandwiches past. However, that was pre-WFPB, pre “awakening” and the Reuben is a serious animal products offender with the meat, cheese, dressing, and butter.

Here at Full of Beans we eat very low fat, high carb, lots of raw veggies and fruits – essentially the “80/10/10” diet. However, we occasionally have a dish that, even though it is all plant based, doesn’t really fit that profile, but we enjoy it for the same reasons that people order stuff like the Reuben – mouth feel. In this case that crunchy, melty, sweet/sour, salty experience.

So we had a quiet afternoon last weekend and decided to give a recipe a try with our own twist. The dressing was whipped up from sweet relish and vegan mayo, and we added shredded cheese from a batch of dairy-free mozzarella that Georgia had been working on. The meat was replaced with grilled tempeh, the bread grilled on the stove with Earth Balance spread.

We served it up with some homemade sweet pickles and it was just what I hoped: crunchy and melty complete with sauerkraut dripping on my hands and dressing on my face. The experience was complete, including the “ohh, I’m full” feeling.

While it’s not something to have every day, or even very often, it is possible to have this kind of dish and still have it be completely plant-based. For those of you who haven’t made the life change yet, and are teetering on the edge of going completely whole foods plant-based vegan, knowing that you can have this kind of a meal can really help the transition.

What do you all think of a meal like this? Do you have some remade favorites from your pre-plant-based days? Please let us know in the comments, we would love to hear from you.