Reuben: Best Thing Since Sliced Rye

When Matt and I first got married I was appalled with his choice every time we would grab a sandwich somewhere. He would always order a Reuben. To be honest, I'm pretty sure I had no idea what this even was Before Matt, but even if I did, I am POSITIVE I would have never tried it. Ever. In a million years. Ever. It has weird dark bread and is filled with stuff I was pretty sure tasted as bad as they smelled.

Then one day after years of insistence, I tried a bite. I may or may not have had a "This is Going to Be Disgusting" look on my face while trying it, but I tried it. Lo and behold, I liked it. Darn it all, I loved it. I don't think Matt will ever recover from that triumph.

Apparently I also like artichokes and smoked oysters too. And Green Eggs and Ham. Shoot. That is all besides the point though, which is that Reubens are Delicious.

If you're looking for a good laugh, check out this beauty here of when I "made" rye bread. Next time I get domestic, this looks like a tasty recipe for it. FYI: You can get rye flour at Winco in the bulk section.

Traditionally Reubens are made with corned beef, but that stuff runs $6.98/lb at the deli at Walmart and $6.89 at Sam's. Yikes. I tend to use pastrami, but you could use any lunch meat your little heart desires.

This makes 9 sandwiches, based on the number of slices of bread in the bag I bought.

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf Rye Bread, homemade or store bought
• 1 lb shaved corned beef, or any other lunch meat
• 14 slices Swiss cheese, or any other cheese. I've used Colby, Cheddar, and Mozzarella
• 14 oz or so of Sauerkraut, drained
• Russian or Thousand Island dressing
• butter

Directions:

1. Preheat a skillet on medium-high and throw in the sauerkraut and corned beef until heated through
2. Butter one side of each slice of bread. Turn them over and put the cheese on half of them. My bread was big so I needed 1 1/2 slices. On top of the cheese, spread the Thousand Island. We recently discovered this order made the sandwich less soggy. Put the corned beef and sauerkraut on top and slap on the other Thousand Islanded slice, butter side out.
3. Put sandwich in the skillet and grill, flipping it over to brown both sides.
4. Eat warm. Thank your lucky stars that you're not Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods.