LUCY BURDETTE: Are you familiar with the concept of "girl dinners" and ensuing controversy surrounding it? It began on TikTok, when creator Olivia Maher posted a casual spread of food and called it a "girl dinner." The trend caught on as a way of feeding yourself the way you might feed others, but with a menu that suits you, eating alone. Apparently there were a number of criticisms--the term was deemed infantilizing, it made a spectacle out of women eating, and it showed a lack of critical thinking. Really? I say bring that girl dinner on... Here's one of mine!
One night a couple of weeks ago John was having dinner with his golf friends, so I was released from my usual dinner duties. I saw this as an opportunity to make something that he wouldn’t be crazy about: a dripping, delicious, cheesy, messy, turkey Reuben. I served it with a plain green salad on the side so I could feel slightly healthy. (It could’ve been worse, I might have made it with pastrami!)
Ingredients for one sandwich
Smoked turkey, one thick or two thinner slices
Swiss cheese, two slices
Sauerkraut, 2 to 3 tablespoons depending how much you like it
Rye bread
Thousand island dressing, preferably homemade
Butter for frying
To make the dressing, combine one tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon catchup, and 1 to 2 tablespoons of good pickle relish. Mix together. This is all very flexible so if you don’t like one of the ingredients, or want to replace the pickle relish with chili crisp, be my guest!
To make the sandwich: while you’re putting the parts together, melt a tablespoon of butter in the frying pan. apply the thousand island dressing to both insides of the sandwich. On the lower half, layer the Swiss cheese, turkey, and sauerkraut and cover with the other half. Carefully deposit the sandwich in the melted butter.
Fry for about five minutes until the underside is brown and then flip to brown the other.
