Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Reuben Sandwich Recipe for St. Patrick's Day

Any time I've ever shopped for a package of corned beef to cook in my crock pot, I've found them to be gluten-free and dairy-free. But do check labels anyway. We all know it's a good idea to be careful, when you have to eat GF and DF. 

Once you've cooked your traditional corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot, though, what do you do with all the left over corned beef? Make yummy Reuben sandwiches! (I'm going to make this recipe for a single serving, but you just double it for two, quadruple it for four, etc.)

Ingredients:

2 slices of GF bread (I prefer Udi's for this recipe, as it tastes the most authentic)

1 Tbs. GF/DF ketchup

1 Tbs. GF/DF mayonnaise

1/4 cup Steinfeld's Homestyle Sauerkraut

1 Tbs. Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese OR goat's milk cheese sliced (if you can tolerate it)

1 Tbs. Earth Balance Spread

Directions:

1. Spread Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese on one side of each piece of the bread. (If your stomach can tolerate goat's milk cheese instead, skip this step.)

2. Mix the ketchup and mayonnaise in a bowl. Spread it over the top of the Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese. We'll call this the "inside" side of the bread slices, because this spread will go inside the sandwich once it's made.

3. If you're planning to use goat's milk cheese, this is when you add your cheese slices to the inside part of the bread, covering the ketchup/mayo spread (only put cheese on one slice of bread). You don't need both Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese and goat's milk cheese; just pick one or the other. If you're not worried about going dairy free, substitute the goat's milk cheese for Swiss cheese.

4. Drain the sauerkraut in a colander. Really drain it! I use a paper towel to smoosh it down into the colander until all the juice is gone from it. If you don't do this, your Reuben sandwich will be soggy.

5. If you're using real cheese (goat's milk or Swiss), place the sauerkraut over the top of the cheese, but if you're using the Tofutti cream-cheese substitute, it doesn't matter which slice of bread you put the sauerkraut on.

6. Lay slices of corned beef over the top of the sauerkraut. Then put the other slice of bread on top, with the ketchup-mayo mixture on the inside of the sandwich.

7. Spread Earth Balance margarine substitute on the outside of both sides of the sandwich. Place your sandwich in a frying pan and brown it on both sides.

Now you have a Reuben sandwich that even Saint Paddy himself would approve of! It goes great with chips and fruit. The one pictured above was made in the summer, so I had watermelon with it. Make sure you've got plenty of liquids to drink because a Reuben sandwich makes you thirsty!