Retro Recipe Roulette: 1976 Reuben Chex Surprise, and an actually edible redux.
I didn't even know wallpaper paste came in Thousand Island before making this cursed Chex Mix
I’ve got a literal winner for you today! It’s from this little booklet, which I tracked down on purpose after seeing one of the recipes shared online, for entertainment purposes only.
According to the intro page, this monster is a collection of the best(?) entries from Ralston-Purina’s 1976 recipe nationwide contest (yes, the ones who make the pet food now — Chex was called “Shredded Ralston” in the 1930s, was renamed in the 1950s, and then was sold to General Mills in the 1990s).
There are lots of other, um, “winners”, like Wine and Cheese Cocktail Balls made with Corn Chex, and Cream Cheese Crepes made with Wheat Chex in frozen mixed vegetable sauce, but I think my favorite page is this one:
Although the Stretch-A-Tuna pictured is tempting, the Reuben Chex Surprise strikes me as the worst recipe in the entire booklet. Here are the main ingredients: lettuce, celery, green onion, Swiss cheese, corned beef, sauerkraut, Rice Chex, sour cream, and Thousand Island.
Let’s try it! And then, let’s turn it into an actual usable meal prep recipe with 30 g of protein and some actual fiber!
A real Reuben sandwich is usually hot, served on toasted dark rye with melted Swiss, Jewish-style corned beef (the Irish style is a different thing altogether, historically speaking), sauerkraut, and Thousand Island or Russian dressing. If you want to make an honest-to-goodness Reuben, I recommend the recipe linked here, from a spectacularly dishy Saveur article about its origins written by the granddaughter of Bernard Schimmel, the fella who probably invented it. Contrary to popular belief, it hails not from a New York deli, but Omaha.
Yes, the one in Nebraska.
Done well, they are delicious, a triumph of textures and a revolving exhibition of the many faces of umami. Done poorly, they are just uber-salted, greasy squish.
Either way, trying to turn one into a cold salad is something of a hot take. Reading the recipe is a real textural minefield — canned cabbage, just a tad of thin lunch meat, extruded and puffed white rice, and crunchy lettuce that is not going to stay crunchy when left to sit in gloopy dressing prior to serving.
I’m so very, very concerned about marinating rice Chex in Thousand Island for 2 hours. The chances that a puffed rice-based matrix without a non-nutritive cereal varnish staying crispy in mayo are practically nil. I’m so sure that it will fold like a Congressman in a lobbyist’s office that I’m going to make 2 separate versions to test this recipe. For one half I’ll make it largely as written, although I’m using Romaine for a little extra nutrition, leaving out the seasoned salt because oh-my-goodness-with-corned-beef-and-canned-sauerkraut-this-is-going-to-be-SALTY-ENOUGH, and I’m using the toasted almonds I have on hand instead of slivered for garnish.
The other half will use a sauerkraut-inspired slaw. I learned how to make a quick, fresh, and crunchy “emergency” kimchi based on the wonderful Maangchi’s instant-ish recipe, so I just left out the chili and such for this version — it’s simply Napa cabbage, salt, and a little raw vinegar. (You can also make a 30-minute cooked version, or a fully fermented homemade version with weighed ingredients that is far superior to canned, and a lot cheaper.)
Most importantly, though, I’m going to mix in the Chex at the end instead of letting it languish in sodden lettuce like a manatee in a stagnant lagoon. Here are both versions, ready for saladizing and in an alarming yin-yang of culinary disrepute.
And here they are after chilling and assembling, ready for sampling. Alas.
They may look like twins separated at urgh, but they have some significant differences. The one with the Chex added in during chilling (left) is fully in line with 1970s salad theory, which is to say, awful. It has the texture of a sleeve of saltines left in the rain and mixed with Elmer’s Glue. There’s too much too-thick dressing, and the cheese and Chex have glommed into a solid mass of salty remorse. Plus, the lettuce is in obvious distress, leaves bowed, xylem and phloem in grim stasis, clearly deeply regretting its life choices.
For the other half (right), I crushed the Chex just a bit and put some beneath and on top of the corned beef and raw slaw goop right before I ate it. This one is far and away superior. There’s a great crunch, and the flavors are a little more apparent, perhaps because they are not so mushed into the extruded and marinated rice goop. Still, it’s too salty, too pasty, and it’s lacking a lot of the character of a Reuben sandwich. The corned beef actually disappears into the yawning abyss of Thousand Island Patching Plaster. I can’t believe they opted for Rice Chex rather than Wheat, to at least whisper in the direction of the incredibly important rye element of a classic Reuben.
Still, it has potential, and if you’d like a cold salad for a meal prep rotation but are sick of tuna, this one could work with a few VERY IMPORTANT substitutions that will improve the textures, flavors, nutrition, and also make it even easier. Instructions and inspo for that below!
The best thing about this recipe? Look how much canned sauerkraut I have left! I’ve got it all bagged up for storage, because unfortunately, I have a use for it for next week, via my grandmother’s 1975 church cookbook…specifically, the dessert section. Stay tuned!
Mom of No Rank’s Un-Goopy Chex-Optional Reuben Surprise Redux (makes 4 main dish or meal prep servings)
8 c torn or chopped salad greens of choice (darker are usually more nutritious!)
4 oz thinly sliced Jewish-style corned beef, chopped (lean would be great, or half corned beef and half low sodium deli turkey if you want to watch sodium a bit)
6 oz grated Swiss
1/2 c chopped celery
1/2 c chopped green onion (a little pickled red onion would be great, too)
1 c chopped toasted or slivered almonds (optional)
2 c slightly crushed Wheat Chex, crumbled Finn Crisps, crumbled Gardetto’s Rye Chips, or best of all, toasted rye croutons
1 c sauerkraut or quick cabbage slaw (I like finely shredded cabbage massaged with a little salt, water, and vinegar and left to stand for at least 30 minutes, drained before use)
1/2 c Thousand Island or Russian dressing, or 1/4 c mixed with 1/4 c of plain yogurt
Divide all ingredients except the Chex, sauerkraut, and dressing among 4 containers and refrigerate. At meal time, add 1/4 c of sauerkraut and 1/2 c of Chex, mix everything, and top with 2 T of your chosen dressing. It depends a bit on the specific options you choose, but in general one serving will offer about 30 g of protein and 10 g of fiber in about 600 calories. If you choose a light dressing or mix it with Greek yogurt, it’ll often save you about 100 calories.
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