Canned potatoes make dinner great - really

"The fact that this vichyssoise is made with canned potatoes just shocks the pants off me!"

And those, dear friends, were the exact words from Alicia as she told me about her love affair with our desperate version of this classic chilled French soup. It's true that a slight variation of today's recipe is printed in our very own "Desperation Dinners" cookbook, but I had not tasted it in nearly a decade.

Somehow, over the years, I became a potato snob. Anything made with canned potatoes couldn't be good, could it?

"Oh, I make that soup all the time, and we love it," Alicia told me when I wondered aloud why on earth we used it in the cookbook. "It's terrific."

And so of course I had to retest it, perfectionista that I am. And, of course, Alicia was right. It's a terrific - and very easy - chilled summer soup. But don't take Alicia's word for it. Or mine. Make it yourself, and be prepared for a pleasant shock.

Suggested menu: Quick Potato and Leek Soup with steamed broccoli spears and crusty rolls.

• Write Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross at Desperation Dinners, c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. Or visit the Desperation Dinners Web site at kitchenscoop.com.