Reuben Inspired Stuffed Potatoes

Both Dan and I used to love Reuben sandwiches. I liked the traditional version with sauerkraut and he liked the cole slaw version. A Reuben sandwich has never been the least bit healthy, but they were a tasty occasional treat. Since bread is in the severely limit category for us I decided to use potatoes to hold the ingredients instead. I also opted for sweet potatoes for nutrition, but think that russet potatoes would be a more familiar flavor in this dish. Since corned beef is out I decided to use mushrooms, spinach and onions and the “meaty” filling. I added a little Worcestershire sauce to the filling to make it taste more like meat, and that seemed to work for me. I made a quick white sauce using raw cashews and oat flour like the base of my queso dip. I added a small amount of nutritional yeast to make the sauce “buttery”. In place of standard dressing I made something similar but used capers instead of pickles and sriracha in place of ketchup. Here is the recipe.

Reuben Inspired Stuffed Potatoes
Serves 6 as an entree

Ingredients:

6 Sweet or Russet Potatoes
½ onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
¼ cup water to sauté onion and garlic
3 cups crimini mushrooms, quartered
10 ounce box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 cups sauerkraut, drained
¼ cup oatmeal, dry (finely ground in your blender)
¼ cup raw cashews
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 pinch dry mustard
1 cup water, plus about ¾ cup additional (to make faux cheese sauce)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons vegan mayo (I used tofu and pine nut)
1 teaspoon drained brined capers, or to taste
1 teaspoon sriracha

Directions:

Clean and prep the potatoes for the microwave and set aside.

Water sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the crimini mushrooms, spinach and Worcestershire sauce and cook until the mushrooms are cooked the water has mostly evaporated.

Place the oatmeal in the blender and process into flour. Add the raw cashews and process until obliterated. Add 1 cup of water to the blender, the garlic clove, mustard, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and process until smooth and combined. Pour this into a saucepan and cook over low heat. It will get very thick and you will need more water. Add ¾ to 1 cup of water to blender, to clean out some of the remaining ingredients, and use that to add to the pot in increments until the texture is right. Cook until the sauce is thick and the garlic taste has mellowed. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired.

Combine the vegan mayo, capers and sriracha. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

Microwave the potatoes until done. Microwave the sauerkraut until hot.

To serve cut the potatoes in half. Top with sauerkraut, mushroom and spinach, cashew sauce and finish with flavored mayo.

Store all the leftover components in separate containers in the refrigerator.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 215.05
Calories From Fat (16%) - 35.21

Total Fat - 4.09g
Saturated Fat - 0.5g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 441.43mg
Potassium - 927.14mg
Total Carbohydrates - 38.22g
Fiber - 7.91g
Sugar - 8.4g
Protein - 7.43g

Comments:

I intentionally made more of the components to this dish last night so that I could make a quick lunch from the leftovers. Dishes like this that just require a quick trip to the microwave are always my favorites. This is another dish that I could eat for a few weeks before I got tired of it. I particularly like all the flavors and textures it has. My husband described it as reminiscent of a Rueben and I think that is a good description. It isn’t the same but the flavors are similar and it is infinitely healthier. If you like salty foods I think you will like this. Between the sauerkraut and capers this has more salt than most of my recipes, and I love that. It was definitely a treat for me.

The nutrition on this dish is also great. Each serving contains approximately 24,000IU of vitamin A, 150mg of calcium, 90mcg of folate, 260mcg of vitamin K, 200mg of phosphorus, 105mg of magnesium and 16mcg of magnesium. Not too shabby for a little over 200 calories.

Unrelated Note:

Last night I tossed and turned all night so I do not expect today to be super productive. It doesn’t help that the weather has changed from 74 and sunny yesterday to 46 and rainy today. You gotta love the unpredictability of spring weather.

On my agenda today is checking on my parents and seeing what I can do there to help them out. This usually involves a little housework and possibly a trip to the grocery store. Nothing exciting, just my usual wellness check to make certain everything is under control before the weekend starts.

After I check on my parents I need to get back to the items on our to-do list. This would have been a little easier had I slept better last night. Oh well, no complaints. Things could always be worse.

For now I need to get moving so that I can kick back a little this afternoon. I will talk to you all later today. I hope you are having a great Friday. The weekend is almost here! Yay!  I don't know about you but I can use the unwind time.