November 2011

Reuben of the Gods

So I live in a smallish town. I mean its not the forgotten city, but its not a bustling metropolis where a dreamy eyed girl goes to make a name for herself. We have a Walmart, Target, and various fast food joints..so we’ve got that going for us. What we don’t have, is a place to get really good vegan or vegetarian junk food. If I thought for a second that it would blow up, I would open my own, and grow fat and happy on vegan meatball subs. But the average age here is 75, so I think its a bust.
So for now, I’ll be in my own kitchen whipping up a vegan reuben, and shoving it my face.

What you need:

tempeh, sliced into however many slices makes you happy.
2 slices bread- I use a marble rye
Vegan cheese slices- swiss flavor is traditional, but you can mix it up…go ahead
sauerkraut
Russian dressing- I use this recipe
Earth Balance- or other vegan butter

What you do:

Slap some butter on one side of each piece of bread, ala grilled cheese of your youth…

put one slice, butter side down (obvs) in a frying pan then lay the tempeh on the bread, the cheese on top of that, then the sauerkraut. On the other piece of bread, spread the dressing on the NON BUTTERED side ( I really don’t think you are all special, but if I don’t give specific instructions, I end up with emails about how I should have been more specific blah blah blah). Lay that piece down on top of the sauerkraut and grill till its all melty and the bread is golden brown.

OHMYGODRICEPUDDING!!!!

The title reflects my exact emotion when I was standing in the rice and pasta isle at the grocery store today. Its one of the many vegan desserts that taste better than its conventional counterparts…and major bonus, its lower in fat..hooray for skinny jeans! ( I really don’t know why I wrote skinny jeans, I pretty much wear standard mom issue sweat pants or shorts….maybe because “Hooray for baggy sweatpants!” doesn’t paint the same picture.)
Anyway, I digress. Its like almost embarrassingly easy to make, and if you’re like me, you can totally rationalize eating it for breakfast.

What you need:

3/4 cup jasmine rice
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups almond milk (or other nondairy milk)
1/2 cup sugar (or 1/3 cup agave nectar, if using agave, remember to scale back the milk a tad to compensate for the water content in the nectar)
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg

What you do:

In a large saucepan, bring salted water and rice to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is fluffy.
Add the almond milk and sugar to the rice and increase heat to medium. Stirring frequently, cook for 30–40 minutes until the mixture is thick and creamy.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.Pour into 7–8 ramekins (or coffee cups, because come on, why would I have ramekins…really?) and cover with plastic wrap if you don’t like pudding skin.