Your Monday Quickie * So Much Better Starting The Week Off With A Quickie

Most anything on toasted bread is awesome, in my book. And fall weather always makes me crave heated, crunchy bread. That said, most sandwiches come and go. Once upon a time, when I was a young woman living in Des Moines, there was a place called Sheffield's and they had this amazing sandwich called The Cajun Tuna.  I can still taste it now.  All toasty and spicy and cheesy. And spicy. And totally not healthy but it's not like I ate them everyday, so back off with your super healthy mumbo jumbo and your carrot sticks, okay?
For years I've been trying to replicate that sandwich.  One, because I no longer live in Des Moines, so if I wanted a fresh one, I was going to have to make it. And two. . . . well, Sheffield's closed.  No more Cajun Tuna's to be had except those in the recesses of my mind, unless I could master the recipe.  
It had taken a decade or longer for me to figure it out but I had it.  The Cajun Tuna was once again within my grasp.  Then just as soon as I thought I had it, I got hit with all of these lovely dietary restrictions.  But. . . . hope always prevails (and hunger is a good motivator) and I'm pretty darn sure I've nailed it again. You can choose to participate in the gluten free, corn free, tapioca free, whey free, dairy free version or live it up by skipping all of that.

Here's the low down:
You need 1 can of tuna (since there's often corn syrup in a lot of it, I have to go with the Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna in water) Four slices of bread (for me that's Rudi's Gluten Free Multigrain)  Cheese of your choice (with my diary restriction, I chose Lisanatti's Foods Almond Jalapeno  Jack Style Cheese) Mayo (Trader Joe's for me - no corn syrup) Mustard (plain old French's yellow works just fine) Sriracha sauce (you should be able to get it at your local grocery) And a tomato (I used some left over "brown" tomatoes from Trader Joe's - they aren't really brown, as much as they are red and dark green, which I guess makes brown.  If tomatoes were crayons).

Start off by toasting your bread slices.  Not too much, since you'll toast them a little longer in a minute.

While your bread is toasting, mix up your tuna.  Drain the liquid from the can of tuna and dump it into a bowl.  Add a tablespoon and a half of mayo, a teaspoon of mustard and between a teaspoon and tablespoon of Sriracha (everyone has a different tolerance for spicy food, so start off easy and keep tasting it. At the Callahan house, we like things good and spicy).  Add a little black pepper and you're set.  

Time to assemble the sandwich.  On one slice, take half of your tuna salad and spread it evenly.  Top with a couple of tomato slices and a couple of slices of cheese.  If you have a toaster oven (or even better yet, one of those commercial conveyor belt toasters - I've always wanted one of those bad boys), toast your open faced sandwich until the cheese starts to melt.  When it's done, top it off with the other slice of toast, make your second sandwich (this recipe makes two) and eat.  And think of Des Moines.  Even if you've never been there.  But you should go.  Because awesome stuff comes out of Des Moines.  Like West End Salvage.  And this sandwich.  And me.  

Oh, and remember last week when I told you that trimming up my front hedges was the next outside project I had on my list to tackle.  Voila.  Give me an electric hedge trimmer and just get out of the way.  Behold the trimmed up beauty that are my hedges.  You can look at the picture and study them while you eat your sandwich.  Bon appetite (since I already snuck some French in here earlier). And you're welcome.