Two points!

A Mouth Watering Tempeh Reuben

I spent the past weekend at a yoga retreat in Asheville, N.C. It was gorgeous and a perfect escape from the rush of summer. I stayed at a friend's house about 15 minutes outside of Asheville, tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. There was even a black bear outside my window at one point. Another reason why I love Asheville is because it's the sort of town where everyone is a vegetarian and therefore, there's tons of great vegetarian cuisine. You can find a number of vegetarian eateries, not just one or two, and everyone is well versed in preparing vegetarian foods.

My friend, for example, made this excellent tempeh reuben that made me melt inside it was so delicious. I would go ahead and make my own thousand island dressing so that you don't end up with all those preservatives and additives that come in prepared salad dressings. I included a recipe below. And also make sure to slice the tempeh thin enough so that you get a good fry out of it. Be generous with the sauerkraut and thousand island dressing when you're putting together the sandwich.

Tempeh Reubens

Serves 2

8 oz tempeh

5 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ cup Vidalia onions, diced

4 slices rye bread

2 tbsp thousand island dressing (recipe to follow)

1/4 cup (or more) sauerkraut

4 slices Swiss cheese

Method

1. Slice the tempeh so that it's about ½ inch thick.

2. Heat the olive oil up to medium and add garlic and onions. Cook until softened and add in tempeh. Fry tempeh for about 4 minutes on each side.

3. Toast the rye bread on each side. Add a slather of thousand island dressing on both pieces of bread. Top with tempeh, onions, sauerkraut, and cheese. Melt under the broiler and serve immediately.

Easy Thousand Island Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup ketchup

1/4 cup pickle relish

Method

1. Combine ingredients and serve.

The two awarded points?   One point for the recipe - love tempeh and this sounds great.  The other?  Asheville - I'll get to see you real soon - I hope.