Smoked Beet Sandwich
We're blowing the flavor roof off of the house today with our larger-than-life golden beet. This sandwich is inspired by the best vegan sandwich in Tucson at 5 Points Market, which will shatter your expectations of how delicious beets can be. We’re snowbirds and quite often crave a bit of Tucson cuisine when we're in the Midwest, so this one’s inspired by that homewrecker of a sandwich.
The key is in how you infuse the beets with extra flavor. We're braising our beets in spiced molasses and vinegar, and then infusing them with a smoky aroma (this is key) before adding them to our multilayer sandwich.
Construct your sandwich using bread slices of your choice, but know that this is the type of sandwich where you’ll be busting out the best bread you’ve got. We're opting for toasted rye bread, beet greens, gooey cheese, and a tangy sauce for vegan flavor that’ll blow the roof off your normal lunch.
Preheat the oven to 375˚
Braise the beets – In a deep lidded pan, mix the water and spices. Add the beets and bake for 1.5 hours until tender. Let cool in braising liquid. Slice into ¼” thick slices and place in a large bowl. Cover the bowl with saran wrap. Load a smoking gun with wood chips and cold smoke the beets, by cutting a small slit in the saran wrap and inserting the hose.
Make the sauce – In a small bowl, whisk together the vegan mayonnaise, sriracha, sweet relish, worchestershire sauce and salt.
Make the beet green coleslaw – Combine the beet greens, cabbage, radicchio, carrot, chive and 3 tbsp of sauce. Mix well. Chill until ready to assemble the sandwiches.
To assemble the sandwiches – Butter each slice of bread on both sides. Place the bread slices on a large griddle. Toast each side. Top 4 slices with a slice of cheese and cover until melted. Add the beets, beet green slaw and top with extra sauce and the toasted bread. Cut in half. Serve with chips and a dill pickle.
Note- These can easily be turned into Reubens by replacing the coleslaw with sauerkraut and toasting both sides on a griddle.
serves four
BRAISED BEETS
- 3 large golden beets, peeled
- 3 cups water
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
- ½ tsp whole cloves
SAUCE
- 4 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- 2 tsp dill relish
- 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
BEET GREEN COLESLAW
- 2 cups beet greens, washed and julienned
- 1 cup green cabbage, shredded
- 1 cup radicchio, shredded
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1 tbsp minced chives
- 3-4 tbsp sauce (above)
FOR ASSEMBLY
- 8 slices of rye bread
- vegan butter, softened
- 4 slices vegan cheese, such as Chao
- pickled jalapeños