Monday, October 29 Peruvian Purple Potato Soup (Appetite for Reduction) with Salad and Grilled Cheese Rating: 4.5

With Hurricane Sandy heading towards the East Coast and a cold front moving in, we here in Atlanta had a couple of days of unseasonably cold and windy days. We won’t complain about that, though. Since it was a blustery day and I’d scored some organic purple potatoes at the store, I decided the only option was soup. Appetite for Reduction is one of the most used cookbooks in my collection. I made this soup last winter and we really loved it. I’m picky about using only organic potatoes, so I only make it when I can find them and it’s cold outside. The soup isn’t hard to make, but does need a little time on the stove, so don’t try to make it if you’re in a big hurry. It’s pretty basic, but really tasty – vaguely latinish with the jalapeno and cilantro. We had a salad on the side and I tried a different ranch dressing recipe than I normally use. This one was from Cooking Crunk and it was really tasty, but I did tweak it a little by adding a dash of Dijon mustard and a little squirt of agave. It was really good though and easier to make than the Skinny Bitch recipe I normally make. The cold weather was making me nostalgic for the chilly autumn days I grew up with in NY and on those days, one of my favorite things in the world was soup and grilled cheese. So naturally, I had to make a grilled cheese sandwich for us to share. I sliced a little tomato and Daiya Havarti and grilled them on deli swirl bread slathered with homemade butter. (I got the idea for the Havarti/tomato combo from a bar in Charlotte I used to go to in my ovo-lacto days.) It’s a really yummy sandwich and the perfect side for a chilly evening’s dinner.