Herbed Potato Soup With Vegetarian Reubens

Soup and a sandwich (and a Stormtrooper or two). That’s the stuff that cool autumn nights are made of.

The Herbed Potato Soup is light, fresh tasting and ready in only 30 minutes. The Vegetarian Reubens are packed with mushrooms, spinach, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. The marble rye adds delicious flavor while giving the sandwiches a fun look.

Herbed Potato Soup

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups 2% milk

Directions:

1. Place potatoes and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.

2. Meanwhile, in another large saucepan, sauté onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme, rosemary and pepper until blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add potatoes with cooking liquid; heat through.

Serves 5

Recipe from Taste Of Home

Vegetarian Reubens

Ingredients:

6 ounces sliced baby portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 ounces fresh baby spinach
8 slices marble rye bread
1/4 cup prepared Thousand Island salad dressing
8 slices Swiss cheese
1 cup sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, sauté mushrooms in 1 tablespoon oil until lightly browned; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. In the same skillet, sauté spinach in remaining oil until wilted. Remove from the heat.

3. Spread bread slices with salad dressing and top with a slice of cheese. Layer four slices with mushrooms, spinach and sauerkraut. Top with remaining bread. Butter outsides of sandwiches.

4. In a skillet or griddle over medium heat, toast sandwiches for 2-3 minutes on each side or until cheese is melted.

Serves 4

Recipe from Taste of Home

I’ve been listening to The Cure’s ‘Close To Me’ pretty regularly since I bought “The Head On The Door” back in 1985. That’s a whole ton of plays.

However, I have never listened to ‘Close To Me’ in the dark while running down a deserted country road through a spooky, deep fog with headphones on. There are some bad ass creepy noises coming through the right ear speaker that could be something out of The Blair Witch Project. Whew, I need less self-induced drama during my morning runs!

The video for ‘Close To Me’ is also pretty disturbing.