El Día de La Verdura: July 2010

I. Love. Corned beef. (Hash). But as it got closer to St. Patty's day, the more I began to miss the old ruby slabs. And while corned beef...well salami too...oh, and pepperoni, are the only meats I miss the flavor of, I knew eating a sad veggie version of corned beef and cabbage was not about to cut it. So, I decided to go with as fatty a dish I could think of: A happy greasy grilled Reuben.

On my search for some vegan semblance of corned beef, I came across Vegan Dad's recipe for corned beef seitan, and I never looked back. I didn't know what the hell a juniper berry was supposed to taste like, but I knew it would be the undoing of my corned beefy dreams.

Making seitan is SO easy. In fact you should go make some RIGHT NOW.

Uh, my memory is failing me in my ripe old age of 30, but I believe this was the first seitan I had ever made. Yes, indeed! It was the March of 2010 that I made my first seitan. Aw, isn't it so sweet bundled in that foil?! And it's so rosey! (Due to the gallon of neon pink food coloring I added, but I digress...)

Rubee's first picture!

Official Reuben Making Station.

I lovingly sliced my pretty pink seitan with a serrated knife and got out my fixins. Now, I had carefully selected Alvarado Street Bakery's Sprouted Rye bread. I LOVE rye but Alvarado's version really blew my mind. Never in my life had I eaten a rye bread with dill and/or celery seeds. But going without it is definitely a crime! (aka EAT THIS DANG BREAD.)

I used Bubbie's saurkraut which is the BEST. It was perfect for this sandwich, and because it is brined and aged instead of cooked in vinegar it is also probiotic! Score! I also made my own Russian/Thousand Island dressing with veganaise, pickles, and Organicville ketchup...which for the record is a hundred times better than Annie's. AND it's certified VEGAN. I topped it off with some white cheddar Cheezly. Product placement much???