Vegan Reuben Sandwich with Russian Dressing

I've been experimenting with different seitan recipes that I have created from scratch. This was the first one I started with. Beyond changing the ingredients, I've also been trying different forms of cooking it such as steaming then baking or cooking it in a pot.












Vegan Reuben Sandwich with Russian Dressing

* Prep Time: 30 minutes
* Cook Time: 1 day and/or several hours


* Ingredients (for seitan):

• 1/2 cup chickpeas
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth
  
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp ground fenugreek
• 1 tsp sage
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp vegan Worcester sauce
  
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour

* Ingredients (for Russian dressing):

• 1/2 cup Vegannaise
• 1 1/2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  
• 1/4 tsp dry ground mustard seed
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
  
• 1/4 tsp paprika
  
• 1 tsp agave nectar
  
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh chopped dill
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh chopped chives
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  

* Ingredients (for sauerkraut):

• 1 cup sauerkraut, squeezed dry
• 1 tbsp vinegar
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• kosher salt (to taste)
• cracked pepper (to taste)

* Ingredients (for filling of sandwich):

• Olive oil, to taste
  
• kosher salt, to taste
  
• 1/3 small white onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced
  
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cups spinach

* Ingredients (for building sandwich):

• sliced rye bread
• vegan butter, to taste
  
• vegan monterrey jack cheese, sliced
• dill pickle, on the side

* Recipe (for seitan):

1. Combine wheat gluten and nutritional yeast flakes in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine all the rest of the ingredients in a blender.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Mix well. Let the wheat gluten mixture rise for a few minutes.
   
4. Form the wheat gluten mixture into a log. Wrap it in tin foil well.
5. Steam the tin foil wheat gluten log for 45-60 minutes.
6. Bake the now steamed wheat gluten log for 60 minutes at 350 degrees. After an hour, take out the seitan and check it.
7. If the seitan is still too mushy, leave it in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Different oven temperatures vary, so this recipe may take longer in one oven than another.

* Recipe (for Russian dressing):

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
2. Set aside.
   

* Recipe (for sauerkraut):

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
2. Set aside.
   

* Recipe (for filling of sandwich):

1. Heat skillet with salt. Once hot, add the olive oil, onion, and green pepper.
2. When onion starts to become translucent, add the spinach and mushrooms.
3. Once all ingredients are cooked, set aside.

* Recipe (for building sandwich):

1. Butter each side of the rye bread and toast each side on a skillet.
2. Take once piece of bread and put three slices of seitan as the first layer. Next, put the sauerkraut mixture and then the filling mixture. Lastly, put two slices of monterrey jack cheese. Place another slice of the rye bread on top.
3. Microwave the sandwich until the cheese melts.
4. Once melted, take the top slice off and add Russian dressing to taste. Place the top piece of bread back on the sandwich.
   

* Notes: You can make the seitan the night before or the same day. I chose to do it the night before to save time when I was building the sandwich. Also, I have a hard time trying to melt vegan cheese on a skillet. If any of you have a better idea as to how to melt it other than in a microwave, please let me know!