I don’t think this will become a thing. But it felt right.

And also? I know it is Thursday. But this is what I ate for lunch yesterday, so. Wednesday.

Y’all probably know I have PCOS- either from the book or the blog– and you know that in general, I eat dairy-free and gluten-free. So I’m always looking for ways to take things I used to love to cover in dairy and eat them still and love them still.

Baked potatoes are a great example. I love them- I used to REALLY love them covered in butter, cheese, sour cream, and bacon. Not so much an option anymore since the whole dairy thing and I don’t really eat pork either. But I wanted something more than a plain potato for lunch yesterday.

When I make baked potatoes, I follow these directions from Alton Brown. I like when potatoes have a crispy skin. That matters to me. So I’ve found his recipe to be the best. (“Recipe” might be a generous word here…. more like “instructions.”)

I love cauliflower soup- if you’ve never tried it, it’s super easy to make and sort of tastes like creamy potato soup. I combined my friend Kate’s recipe with my mom’s recipe and here’s what I did:

Annie’s Cauliflower Soup

• 2 heads of cauliflower, chopped
• 2 leaks, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 box (32 oz) chicken stock (or veggie if you’d rather… I just love chicken stock)
• 1 packet (1 oz) ranch dressing mix

This is embarrassingly easy. Ready? Go.

Take the chopped leaks and put them in a pot with the oil and heat/brown them. (If I had an onion, like Kate’s recipe called for, I would have chopped it and put it in with the leaks.) Then add the cauliflower and the chicken stock and the ranch dressing mix. (SO HARD, right?) Let it simmer for about thirty minutes, until the cauliflower has softened. Then either transfer it to your blender or use an immersion blender to whirrrrrrr the mess outta that soup.

You may want more liquid- your call. I like it chunkier, so more stew-ish. But if you want it to be more soupy, add water or more stock. After being whirrrrred for an appropriate amount of time, it’s ready to eat! (And yes, that is my favorite caribbean colored Le Creuset that was a Christmas gift years ago and I use as much as possible.) It is the best soup- y’all will love it soooo much.

. . . . .

So for dinner Tuesday, I just ate soup. If you want, top it with cheese or sour cream or bacon or whatever and it will taste so much like potato soup. But for Weird Lunch Wednesday, I baked a potato in the oven, then topped it with some reheated soup and some shredded turkey breast from Trader Joe’s.

Gluten-free.

Dairy-free.

PCOS-friendly.

And super weird.

(But it tasted so delicious that I am having it again today for lunch.)

. . . . .