Tempeh Reubens

Nostalgia will apparently have people do crazy things they wouldn't otherwise consider doing. And specifically the kind of nostalgia that occurs when you hear a song that leaves you feeling a certain, intense way. I was listening to This American Life yesterday while we made tempeh reubens and a girl was talking about why she joined the navy and when you get right down to it, she said it was because of a commercial she saw on television for joining the navy instead of going to school. The people looked happy and in the commercial there was a song she knew and connected with. I was remembering the way I feel when I'm in the car listening to a song I love, that I have a connections with, and singing at the top of my lungs. It can be a pretty intense emotion. I said to Ben, "that feeling would probably have me sign up to sail on a ship for four months right now." He said, "it would probably have you do anything."

The tempeh reubens were amazing. Just the way I remember my first veggie reuben being. I think the guy's name was Dave; It was the middle of winter, and I had taken the bus to Saugerties, NY to volunteer on the sloop Clearwater for a week or so. All day Dave had been talking about his famous tempeh reuben as we worked outside in the bitter cold, taking the boat apart for the winter. That evening the apartment smelled amazing, of golden fried tempeh, melted swiss cheese, toasted rye bread. And they were really good, just like he said.

The restaurant where I work sells reubens and apparently they are quite good, maybe even the best around. Housemade corn beef and russian dressing, local dark rye bread and gooey swiss cheese melted over the whole mess. And it is a mess. I always smile when little old ladies order reubens because it seems it would go against their nature to really get down and dirty with their reuben...but some of them do. The restaurant across town sells reubens, only they call them rachels and I know that they are a little different for some reason, but I can't remember why. Ben says those ones are his favorite. Until yesterday.

Last year, I came across a recipe for Tempeh Reubens with Carmelized Onions in a cookbook I had just purchased called the Healthy Hedonist: More Than 200 Delectable Flexitarian Recipes for Relaxed Daily Feasts. By that time in my life I was beginning to know myself as a flexitarian ("primarily a vegetarian but may eat some animal products on occasion") and this looked like the cookbook for me. A healthy hedonist "anticipates a good meal, savors it, and feels energetic and nourished afterward" - woohoo! I gathered all the ingredients and made a reuben-centered feast for Ben and I that evening. Those famous greasy sandwiches were, again, absolutely delicious. Who needs corn beef anyway?

I'd recently picked up that cookbook again and after watching a co-worker at the restaurant revel in her real reuben sandwich, I was inspired to try the recipe again. This time it was even better. Last time the reubens had been to impress and please Ben. This time it was a joint venture. We went to the grocery store together and had fun choosing the right sauerkraut, and rye bread, and getting distracted by a new Putamayo CD, Gypsy Groove. We also cooked the meal together and we have really become the best "team-cuisine". As we smiled at each other acorss the table with sauerkraut juice running down our chins, Ben said to me, "This is the best reuben I've ever had", which I've come to understand means, "it's just perfect". And it was.