El Ruben Sandwich

I was never a fan of corned beef whether it was in a can or with cabbage when one of my mom’s friends would cook some for St. Patrick’s Day. So it should come as no surprise that I have never had a Rueben sandwich.

We purchased a product called Vege-Corned Beef made by Cedar Lakes. Since we wanted to share a recipe for #SabrosoSaturday that was vegetarian, we decided to change a couple of ingredients to make them Latino.

The original recipe we found has Russian dressing added to the sandwich. But if you want to make your own or purchase it in the store and you are vegetarian/vegan, read the label. This particular dressing may contain Worcestershire Sauce that contains anchovies.

So we decided that we would take mayo-ketchup and add that to the sandwich. If you don’t know what mayo-ketchup is, I’ll tell you. It is a mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup. In my household we use it as a dipping sauce for tostones or you can put it on salads or sandwiches. When you mix both ingredients you get the same color as Russian dressing.

There are vegetarian and vegan alternatives to mayonnaise at your local health food store. Here is a simple recipe to make Mayo-Ketchup for the sandwiches and if you have left over make tostones the next day for a quick snack. We also switched out the swiss cheese for jalapeño to give it a spicy kick.

Ingredients for Mayo-Ketchup

½ cup of Mayo

½ of Ketchup

½ of a piece of garlic finely diced for an extra kick

Pinch of Salt to taste or you can use Adobo for flavor.

Mix together the mayo and ketchup along with the garlic. Taste for salt.

Ingredients for 1 Sandwich

2 Vege Corned Beef by Cedar Lakes (12 slices included in packet)

Sauerkraut

2 slices of Rye bread

1 small onion sliced and sautéed in 1 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Swiss Cheese or Jalapeño Cheese (Vegan option would be Soy cheese)

1 tbsp butter

Cooking Instructions

1. Slice onion and sauté in EVOO until they are caramelized.
2. Lightly brown the 2 Vege Corned Beef slices in EVOO.
3. Butter both sides of Rye bread slices until toasted.
4. Add Swiss Cheese or Jalapeño slices to each slice of toast immediately in order for them to start melting or use a toaster oven to slightly melt. (Be careful not to burn toast)
5. Add mayo-ketchup, sauerkraut, Vege Corned Beef, onions, and or layer to finish topping with mayo-ketchup on both sides.

Have you made healthy alternatives for your favorite sandwiches for #SabrosoSaturday?