Vegan Reuben Sandwich

I have to start off with a confession: I've never eaten a "real" reuben sandwich. In fact, when I was in high school, I would go with my sister and her boyfriend to their favourite little deli shop near our campus. Every time, I would want to gag at the smell of the reuben they always ordered. I don't even actually knows what goes in one of those things... sauerkraut, rye bread? That's about it.

So, for some reason that still escapes me, I started suddenly having vegan reuben cravings like mad earlier this week. Seriously, I was like a pregnant woman craving ice cream and pickles... I may have spent precious hours of prime thesis proposal writing time scouring Pinterest for options, like Option #1:

or Option #2:

I looked, I considered, I conquered... I had to try my hand at this. The upside? Since I'd never had one before, there was little chance I'd be disappointed! I knew I wouldn't make a traditional reuben anyway. I wasn't a fan of all the use of veganaise, fake cheese, and what not, so my final result was chock full of whole, organic ingredients and deeeeelicious local flavours:

2 slices of miche (a type of sourdough bread) from Art-is-In Bakery

red cabbage sauerkraut from Roots Down

smoky maple flavoured tempeh

pan-fried mushrooms

caramalized onions

tomato slices

home-made garlicky cashew cheese sauce*

*apple cider vinegar, soaked cashews, lemon juice, garlic, salt, nutritional yeast, hint of maple syrup

Reuben or not... this combination of flavours was addictive, and was repeated twice over the week in a big bowl minus the bread. Hmm, maybe I should create the "Reuben bowl" in that way that they have sushi bowls... yummy...