reuben burger

Burgers are sandwiches, and if anyone has followed this blog, knows that I am a huge burger fan. Check out my five top picks from MoFo 2014, starting with this Schnitzel Burger:

For me, typically, burger making is from scratch - meaning that at least the patty is homemade. This time, though, I wanted to make a burger that was fast - and that meant using a prepared veggie patty. On this occasion, the bun is homemade but not the patty.

In our house, this also means that five different people will have five different favorite veggie patties: Boca, Quorn, Engine 2, Beyond Meat or Field Roast (this one is the family's pick, if they had a choice). I am more of a vegetable veggie patty person, but the rest of the fam leans more toward vegan meats, like the Field Roast, Beyond Meat or Quorn.

Having chosen our favorite patties, I thawed them and seasoned them with onion and garlic granules before cooking them. Then I added homemade Spicy Thousand Island sauce and fresh shredded cabbage, as well as sauerkraut.

Really couldn't be much simpler. You can, of course, add some cheese while cooking the burger (use a lid to cover the burger to melt the cheese because vegan cheese needs moisture to melt - otherwise it looks like plastic melted on your sandwich).

Have at it! Enjoy!

Reuben Burger
Makes 4 burgers 

Spicy Thousand Island Sauce:
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons dill relish
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Other:
4 vegan burger patties (of choice), thawed
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Sea salt
Oil spray or olive oil
4 burger buns, toasted
1 cup sauerkraut 
1/2 cup shredded cabbage


1. Sauce: Combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, relish and cayenne in a small bowl. Mix wel and set aside. 
2. Season the burger patties with onion and garlic powder and salt. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the oil or spray with oil. Cook the patties until golden. 
3. Assemble the burgers: bottom bun, sauce, burger, sauerkraut, cabbage and top bun. Serve immediately. 


© 2017 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

stuffed cabbage soup

Tapping into our inner lazy, this soup manifests. Stuffed Cabbage is a Hungarian specialty in which cabbage is rolled around a filling of ground meat and rice, and  is then cooked with sauerkraut and a few tomatoes. 

Since I try to find the fastest way around a boulder of any kind, unless it is a special occasion, at which time I will painstakingly roll said cabbage around stated filling, I decided to make this dish into a soup, at which point I came up with this creative name -

Stuffed Cabbage Soup.

It utilizes all of the main ingredients that are in the stuffed cabbage, including the ground protein, rice, sauerkraut, sour cream and tomatoes. It came out to being a delicious alternative to its more labor-intensive cousin.

Cost Breakdown

TVP (or seitan): $1

sauerkraut, cabbage: $2.50

tomatoes, broth, rice: $2.50

onion, garlic, sour cream: $1

Total to make 5 servings:

$7.00

Stuffed Cabbage Soup Recipe

FNF + reuben meatball sliders

Ground meat formed into a patty = burger

Ground meat formed into a loaf = meatloaf

Ground meat formed into a ball = meatball

Ground meat formed into small balls = polpettini

Ground meat stuffed into a casing = sausage

Any other way to name or make something that is essentially just ground meat?

This month's Food Network Friday, brought to us by the very talented Tami Noyes of Vegan Appetite, is, you guessed it, a form of ground meat, Reuben Meatball Sliders. Now, I can totally see the appeal of this recipe - Reuben. Name anything a Reuben and the folks over at Vegan Appetite will hear its calling. I am no exception and have made my fair share of the sauerkraut sandwich. This 'Reuben' is the ground meat version of our beloved dish.

The chef who created this spin on an old classic, Jeff Mauro, is the latest Food Network Star winner. He has us adding the cheese into the ground meat, along with the rye bread in the form of breadcrumbs. So far so good. Naturally, he loses me at the ground flesh and eggs. No problem. We'll just make our own ground plants in lieu of the animal parts and eat a better burger as a result. 

As a nod to Jeff, however, he did manage to make tofu delicious during one of the Star challenges, which Paula Dean, who is now diabetic and is pushing pharmaceutical drugs to 'treat' the very same diabetes that her diet no doubt plays a huge part in perpetuating if not outright causing, found delicious. If only she'd adopt tofu instead of bacon as a staple.

Tangent!

The sauerkraut and the 1,000 Island Dressing go on top of his meatballs and the whole thing is between slider buns. To veganize the slider, I made a 'burger,' only smaller. I used black beans and gluten in this one because I wanted to take a break from adding tofu to my burgers. Except for adding some pickle relish to the burger, the only thing I changed was the meat, eggs and used vegan dairy. Otherwise, this is a darned fine sandwich and I am getting some really great experience making vegan burgers.  

Reuben Sliders Recipe

gypsy goulash

European Night

Gypsy Goulash, or Szeged Gulyas, originates in Hungary in, you guessed it, the city of Szeged.  While the name literally means, 'gypsy,' it actually has not much to do with gypsies, except that maybe nomadic peoples might have been more apt to cook it over a roaring fire, ...or might have been the founders of the city for which the dish is named after. 

The dish contains pork, sauerkraut, onions, paprika and sour cream. Except for a little salt and pepper, that is all that the authentic version contains. In order to veganize it, and therefore improve on it, I used pressed, marinated and then baked tofu. 

Starting with an onion and vegan butter, sauteing it will signal to everyone in the house that dinner is on its way. When the onions have caramelized somewhat, adding garlic, paprika and the saurkraut to the pot will continue the assault on the senses of those same unfortunate hungry. Since the tofu renders no 'natural juices' during the braising process, it is easy to add a few cups of excellent vegetable stock (broth will be fine as well) and then letting the dish simmer uncovered for an hour. By this time you should have plenty of nosy visitors begging to know when dinner will be ready.

To finish off the Goulash, add a cup of vegan sour cream and fold it into the tofu and sauerkraut gently. Serve this with something simple, like boiled potatoes or cooked pasta. These will reward you by soaking up the creamy gravy. IF there is any leftovers, be sure to save them because while most meals are best left to the original meal, this one improves while it sits in the fridge overnight.  Be sure to hide it behind the kale so it doesn't get pilfered.

Cost Breakdown

tofu: $4

sauerkraut: $4

onion, garlic, tomato: $2

spices: $1

vegetable stock: $2

potatoes: $3

Total to feed 6 people:

$16.00

GYPSY GOULASH PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

reuben

Late in the posting, but this was an after-St. Patrick Day Reuben. I decided to follow Tami's lead from American Vegan Kitchen and make Reubens after I made Corned Seitan.

(Incidentally, she has announced that she is writing her new cookbook!)

Not really much to say about Reubens...except that they are divine! In fact, I made this for the Vegetarian (Vegan) Workshops I conducted at my homeschooling conference a few weeks ago. It was well received and I was excited to have presented to a few chefs, a few vegans and others in various stages toward vegetarianism. Attending the workshop hopefully fueled their fire, sparked their interest and added to their arsenal of nutritional knowledge.

 A healthy, informed vegan is one that stays vegan!

There are four sandwiches in the picture below and not a single one was left over. If you haven't made a Reuben yet, you are missing out. Make your seitan a few days before or a few weeks before (and freeze it). That way you just need to assemble the sandwich. Make The Radical Reuben and skip the peppers and onions if you want.

Cost Breakdown

bread: $2

seitan: $3

Daiya: $2

1,000 Island sauce (homemade): $1

sauerkraut: $1

Total to make 4 sandwiches:

$9.00

chicago diner (MoFo 18)

Chicago Diner is near and dear to us because, one, it is near, we live in Chicago land, and, two, the food rocks. Really. This place is the reason why my kids will endure an hour's drive, for the vegan milkshakes, where my husband always tries to get me to go when we go out to eat and why I have tried to recreate food that is worthy of Chicago Diner.

This is where vegans make pilgrimages and from where the desserts travel to the out fringes of Illinois to grace the shelves of Whole Foods even as far away as Wisconsin.

The place is a bomb and we travel there with loose pants to facilitate the massive influx of food that will be taking place.

In honor of Tamasin Noyes, the author of American Vegan Kitchen (check MoFo 16 for her book giveaway), and the writer of Vegan Appetite, I am first making the Radical Reuben. Marbled rye bread is stuffed with their seitan roast beef, sauerkraut, grilled onions and peppers, cheese and their special sauce. This is one of my favorites as well.

The other sandwich I've made is The Halfpipe. This is David's favorite. His other favorite is Chicken Fried Steak. Basically the sandwich is the same seitan but it is in a sesame seed hoagie roll with crispy onions, lettuce, tomato and twisted chili sauce. This sandwich is so big that they don't give you a side with it - liability, you see.

Their Barbecue Wings and Potato Skins are also radical and they serve super delicious milkshakes. When in Chicago this is definitely a place you must visit.

Cost Breakdown:

Reuben:

bread: $2

seitan: $3

pepper, onion: $1

Daiya cheese: $2

special sauce (1,000 Island): $1

sauerkraut: $1

Total to make 4 sandwiches:

$10.00

halfpipe:

bread: $3

onion, lettuce, tomato: $3

seitan: $3

sauce: $1

Total to make 4 sandwiches:

$10.00

Radical Reuben

The Halfpipe

Radical Reuben Recipe

The Halfpipe Recipe

reuben

Family Favorite

Oh, I remember the first time I served a Reuben to my kids...the nose-snubbing you would not believe they gave it! Now, it is a family favorite that they all rave about. You'd think they just received a new video game or something.

I make my Reuben with my Corned Seitan recipe. The seitan recipe is enough for 12 sandwiches. Seitan freezes very well, so making once will feed you many times.

If you want to have the pink color that corned beef has (which is caused by the addition of saltpeter - a nitrite and hence questionable, anyway), after slicing the seitan thin, soak it in a can's worth of beet water. It picks up the color but there is no beet-y aftertaste.

Thousand Island dressing is nothing more than veganaise, pickle relish, onion and ketchup.

For those who are leery of sauerkraut, do not forget that fermented vegetables are truly healthy for the body. Good sauerkraut - I make my own - is nothing more than cabbage and salt, maybe some caraway seeds. Not even water should be added since the cabbage is fermenting in its own liquid.

Cost Breakdown

bread: $2

sauerkraut: $1

1,000 Island : $1

Daiya: $3

seitan: $2

Total to make 5 sandwiches:

$9.00