Grilled Turkey Ruebens

I have no idea where this tradition came from, or why - but we've been eating rueben sandwiches on New Years Day for as long as I've known Dave. Which is pretty interesting since I used to dislike them - but I kept making them and now I think they're great! For years I made them with corned beef but that's not always easy to find in January (unlike in March when it's everywhere!) so now we make them with turkey. I also used to hate sauerkraut so substituted it with cole slaw but for whatever reason I now love sauerkraut and use that...feel free to make these with corned beef and coleslaw if that suites your fancy :)

My favorite bread for these is swirled rye (light and dark rye swirled together in the loaf) but there are lots of different rye breads out there for you to choose from and they all taste good.

Ingredients:

-rye bread
-shaved turkey or corned beef
-sauerkraut (I like the kind in the jar; drain it as much as you can. I squeeze out more liquid with a paper towel if it seems too wet. Put in a small bowl and heat up in the microwave)... or use cole slaw if you prefer.
-swiss cheese slices
-thousand island dressing
-butter or mayo for grilling

Directions:

Spread butter or mayo on one side of the bread slices, put one slice buttered side down in a preheated pan. Layer on a slice of swiss, meat, and another slice of swiss (you can just use one slice but I like two - if you're gonna eat a grilled sandwich might as well go for it!), then top with another slice of bread (buttered side up). Cover for a few minutes to help the cheese melt, uncover and turn when the bottom is golden and crispy. When the other side is done remove from pan to a cutting board, open the sandwich up and add a big scoop of warmed sauerkraut, drizzle with thousand island dressing, reassemble the sandwich and cut in half. If you're a "dipper" like me, serve with extra dressing on the side.

note: I have always grilled my sandwiches using butter but my mom who lives in the south just told me that she always uses mayo now instead. I made one sandwich using butter and one using mayo and they both turned out golden and delicious - the mayo was crunchier though (in a good way - not in a "cut up the roof of your mouth" way which I absolutely hate!). Flavor was about the same and if you didn't know one was spread with mayo you'd never be able to tell the difference.

spread with butter on the left, mayo on the right

butter on left, mayo on right