Don't Forget the Pickles: They're Piquant, Pungent and Perfect for Sandwiches

• There are endless varieties of pickles with varying degrees of spiciness from hot pickled banana peppers to sweet pickle relish. Mix them in, layer them on, or serve them with sandwiches.
• Pickles are to deli cuisine what sauce is to French food.
• Pickles punch up flavor with no fat and few calories - 15 in a hefty dill and 7 in an ounce of pickled peppers. Pickles add fun to meals.
• Pickle and pickled pepper garnishes transform good sandwiches into great ones. Their interesting shapes, vibrant colors and snappy flavors add appetite appeal. Try mellow bread and butter pickles, golden hot pickled banana peppers, plump red cherry peppers, candied dill pickle sticks or traditional Kosher dill spears or sweet garnish.
• Tingle your tastebuds by adding chopped mildly hot pepperoncini to your favorite tuna salad sandwich. Garnish with sweet gherkins.
• Perk up classic egg salad with chopped red and green cherry peppers.
• Layer pickle chips or pre-cut thin dill slices on sandwiches.
• Low-calorie Chili Burger sauce makes burgers heavenly. Combine low-fat mayonnaise with chili sauce, a splash of red wine vinegar, finely chopped Kosher dill pickles and salt to taste. Spoon on burgers.
• Combine pickled sweet red pepper slices with juice, lemon juice, olive oil and small whole mushrooms. Toss; marinate at least 30 minutes. Spoon on a grilled chicken breast and top with arugula on a crusty roll.
• Try "Round Dogs." Slit hot dogs about 10 times horizontally without cutting all the way through. When grilled they'll curl into "round dogs". Serve on onion rolls topped with sweet and hot pickle relish, crunchy sauerkraut and mustard.

Rediscover Versatile Sauerkraut: It's Savory in Salads and Sandwiches

• Crunchy, colorful Sweet 'n' "Sauer" Confetti Kraut Slaw is a traditional favorite kraut recipe. Toss 3-1/2 cups drained kraut with 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup chopped celery, 1 chopped green pepper, 1-1/2 cups chopped sweet onion and 1 (4 ounce) jar pimiento, drained and chopped. Cover; chill overnight. This slaw is great with barbecued meats, and it keeps well and travels safely for picnics.
• Lighten up traditional companions pork and kraut, with this appetizing salad. Cut chilled, cooked pork tenderloin into strips and toss with chilled, drained sauerkraut, sliced apple, sliced sweet onion and pickled hot banana pepper rings. Toss with mixture of honey mustard and low-fat mayonnaise. As an alternative, try crumbled blue cheese and blue cheese dressing.
• Remarkable Reubens can be light and lean. On a slice of rye bread, layer lean corned beef and piquant sauerkraut. Add reduced-calorie Russian dressing and top with low-fat Swiss cheese. Broil until cheese melts or heat in microwave using reduced power setting.
• Revisit the legendary Reuben as a light salad. Toss red leaf lettuce with lean corned beef, sauerkraut, reduced-calorie Russian dressing and cubes of low-fat Swiss cheese. Cut hearty pumpernickel bread into croutons and toast in oven. Add to salad; sprinkle with caraway seeds.
• Stuff whole wheat pita pockets with sauerkraut, shredded carrots, sliced plum tomatoes, green and red pepper rings, zucchini matchsticks, garbanzo beans and spicy radish or clover sprouts for a toothsome, healthful summertime sandwich. As an option, mix olive oil with garlic powder, pepper and soy sauce and toss with vegetables before stuffing.
• Add zip to classic warm German potato salad by adding one to two cups of sauerkraut before tossing with the dressing.
   

Spice Up Burgers and Franks with Another Classic Favorite: The Pickle

No menu would be complete without all-American hot dogs and hamburgers. But, of course, the trick is giving these favorite foods a mark of distinction while keeping costs under control. Take a cue from Peter Piper and pick from a peck of pickles and pickled peppers to make terrific value-added meals!

Pickles from sweet to dill and pickled peppers from mild to hot are excellent foils for beef, chicken and turkey burgers and make tasty companions for frankfurters. Whether used as a unique topping, blended into the meat or served simply on the side, pickles and pickled peppers make hamburgers and hot dogs much less ho-hum for practically pennies.

• Spice up the menu with a Southwestern Burger. Top a ground beef patty with tangy salsa, fiery pickled jalapeno rings and jack cheese.
• Don't count out the calorie-counters. Offer Skinny Burgers, ground chicken or turkey burgers served without the bun on a bed of fresh, mixed greens. Top with sauteed mushrooms, onions and pungent pickled peppers and serve with a scoop of cottage cheese.
• Give burgers a Mid-Eastern flair! Mix ground beef with dill pickle liquid; shape into patties and brown. For dressing, combine chopped dill pickles, plain yogurt and sesame seeds. Serve in a pita with lettuce and tomato slices.
• The makings for a real Show-Stopping Burger are in the mix! Saute onion, remove from heat and stir in mild pickled peppers, mushrooms and a dash of salt. Stir half the mixture into the ground beef before cooking and use the remaining portion for topping the browned burgers.
• Customers will be clamoring for your sizzling Pizza Burgers topped with tomato sauce, hot pickled pepper rings and grated mozzarella cheese.
• Hot dogs are a favorite of the young and young-at-heart. For an eye-catching presentation, cut 10 deep slits in each frank, without cutting the whole way through. Broil, and the frank will curl into a Round Dog. Serve on an onion roll with pickle relish piled in the center.
• The Southwestern theme isn't limited to burgers-use spicy salsa, pickled pepper rings and jack cheese on a juicy South-of-the-Border Dog.
• Try another pickled favorite on a frank-piccalilli! The mixed pickled vegetables will add a zingy taste and crunchy texture that make for an uncommon Pickled Dog.
• Try a Dill-iscious Dog! Slit a hot dog lengthwise and insert a dill pickle spear, a slice of cooked bacon, and a piece of American cheese and broil. Serve on a hot dog roll.

The Reuben, Revisited!

The Reuben -- that delectable combination of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on rye bread -- is celebrating more than 60 years as one of America's best loved sandwiches.

The concoction was invented by Reuben Kulakofsky during a break in the action of his weekly poker game at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska. Kulakofsky, a deli owner by trade, assembled his now-famous namesake from fixins in the hotel's kitchen. Before long, the unusual combination became the unlikely star of the Blackstone's menu.

Lady Luck followed the sandwich when it won the National Wheat Flour Institute's Sandwich Idea Contest in 1956. By then, the Reuben had become a huge hit throughout the rest of the country.

The streak has continued over the years as Reuben renditions have appeared in everything from soups and salads to casseroles, omelets and even pizza. In fact, Pickle Packers International, the trade organization for the nation's pickle and sauerkraut industry, has tracked and catalogued Reuben recipes since the sandwich's creation. The group has recipes ranging from Reuben Salad to Reuben Pizza.

Some of the newest Reuben variations are skinnier versions of their former selves, reflecting today's lighter eating habits.

Try experimenting with various meats - for example, corned beef can be replaced with lean smoked turkey. Or, substitute low-fat Swiss cheese for regular. But don't give up the piquant sauerkraut - it provides the Reuben's signature flavor with very few calories and without a single bit of fat.

One thing's for certain -- no matter how many variations, good taste, if not good fortune, is sure to follow.