Tempeh Reuben

2Jul Burgers and Sandwiches 11 comments

tempeh-reuben_450.jpg
Tempeh Reuben

Ingredients:
4 slices good quality rye bread
2 slices swiss cheese or vegan Swiss-style cheese
Four slices fried tempeh (see below for method)
1 T. vegetable oil
¾ c. sauerkraut (coleslaw may be substituted)
Vegan Thousand Island dressing
Softened margarine

Heat a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Place swiss cheese on two slices of bread and top each with tempeh laid side to side at an angle. Put two tablespoons of Thousand Island dressing on the tempeh, heap on some sauerkraut, then top with the remaining slice of bread. Coat each side with a light scraping of margarine and grill in pan, until toasty and golden. Remove, cut and serve.

Tamari Tempeh

Take a package of tempeh, any style, and cut into quarters. Take each quarter and slice in half through the center, so you have eight thinner slices.

Heat 3-4 T. of oil in a heavy skillet. Fry tempeh slices until golden brown on one side, then turn to brown the other side. When the tempeh is crispy and golden, remove and place slices onto a paper towel for a minute or so to drain any excess oil, then brush each side with tamari or soy sauce while the tempeh is still hot.

About the author

Written by

Toni Fiore was raised by an Italian-American father and a German mother who instilled in her a sociable nature and the love of travel and of good food. She has lived in Italy and Germany and now resides in southern Maine. She is the author of: Totally Vegetarian: Easy, Fast, Comforting Cooking for Every Kind of Vegetarian

11 Responses

  1. Hi,
    This is a silly
    question but can you tell me where I might find tempeh? Also what is it?

  2. Hi Kris, Not at all! It’s not as though tempeh is something we see on TV or advertised, so your’s is a great question! Tempeh is a soy product, made from split sometimes de-hulled soybeans. After the soybeans are split and cooked a culture is added to the mixture and the product is formed and carefully fermented in cake like shapes. During this time because of the addition of the culture, the beans will bind and form a solid ‘cake’. Often times there will be variations in color which is perfectly fine. Tempeh has a nutty flavor and chewy texture when cooked. It can be boiled, fried, baked, grilled just about anything!Because tempeh is a fermented product it’s incredibly nutritious, very high in B12,niacin, potassium, magnesium and more.
    You should be able to find tempeh in the refrigerator section of most surermarkets, whole food/health food stores and Asian markets. You may also see tempeh made with added ingredients such as wild rice, millet or flax. These are all delicious and give you a few more choices. Be sure to look for an organic variety as it has better texture and flavor and no nonsense added in. Thanks for writing and check in again if you have more questions! Toni

  3. I’ve seen all of your shows several times on one of my local PBS stations, WHUT. I’d like to know if you have a complete print-out of all your recipes. Also, you have several recipes that use Korn. I was wondering if I could bake the stuff in something other than the plasic in which it comes. I find the material dubious. Thanks. Lou

  4. Hi Lou,
    Thanks for writing. Great word ‘dubious’, and it is. It’s like those weird roasting shake and bake bags from the late sixties. I don’t know if you can bake the roast out of the bag, I never did it but I suppose it’s worth a try. The stuff doesn’t come cheap, but I can’t imagine anything could go too wrong. I might just substitute the roast with their Naked Cutlets and not blow the six or seven dollars on the roast experiment…although the roast is good….Now you have me thinking about the weirdness of that bag. I don’t have a print out of all my recipes, but we just finished filming our new season and I am currently working on a cookbook that is due out next Spring. I’ll be sure to not wrap that in plastic…I can tell you right now that this Quorn thing will bug me enough to try the roast out of the bag. I’m wondering if it needs to be wrapped in something, either parchment or foil to maintain moisture…I’ll let you know or if you take the leap and do it, let me know…Take care..Toni

  5. Speaking of tempeh, does the taste resemble a flavor to Japanese “natto” or fermented soybeans?

  6. Not bacteria but fungi(molds, Rhizopus spp.) are used to ferment soybeans and made the tempeh. For more information about tempeh, you may want to have a look at the website: http://www.tempeh.idv.tw

    Natto is actually made from bacteria-fermented soybeans. The bacteria are Bacillus Natto.

  7. Good day, My name is Tora and I have been changing the way I have been eating taking it slow. I love 100% grain breads and trying to stay away from bad foods. I saw your program today for the first time and I was very insterested. I will be searching for the Tempeh in the sandwiches and the tofu pie. I love using tofu I use the silken tofu for my smoothies. I will be purchasing a food processor. I will let you know how the recipes turn out. thank you again for bring this program to my attention. healthy eating.

  8. Hi, this morning i watched your program, and love it, but was unhappy when i couldn’t access the recipes for the show…explicitly…this morning is 10/11/08 and the show was shown in nyc….do i have to order the video???

  9. Hi, I ate tempeh for the first time today. Was inspired by the above recipe. I used ingredients I had on hand; instead of swiss cheese, I used mozzarella. Instead of thousand island dressing; I used fat free french with some whole grain mustard. The sandwich was delicious. I will search your website for other recipes so that I could put the remaining tempeh to good use.

  10. Great information! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks! Roberto Justus

  11. Made this for lunch a couple of Saturdays ago and I will never go back to deli Rueben Sandwiches again. This is the one. Toni you are the Truth!

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