What a souper diet!

See what I did there? I've been making and eating a lot of home made soups in the last three weeks. I've gone from not having made a soup in months, to making a pot every few days. I am trying to continue to think of different combinations of veg and herbs and spices to stay interested, keep from becoming bored. Thankfully there are already a few very simple ideas in my repertoire, and the good old interweb is an endless sourse of reference material.

I looked up various vegetables to see what herbs or spices they are said to go well with. I mean, basil with tomato is a well known option. Same with carrot and coriander. But what about parsnip with curry? Pumpkin or squash are great with currry powder too. I think they're also quite well known. How about oregano with broccoli and cauliflower? Sweet chilli with red peppers? Both good. Yesterday I tried out onion with garlic and smoke paprika for the first time. I must find a herb that goes well with mushrooms next. I adore mushroom soup and I'd like to find a really nice herb to compliment the veg. I love the omniscience of the internet! If all else fails, I'll use dried mixed herbs. I've used them before and I know they work.

The onion and smoked paprika soup was lovely. How to match herbs and spices to vegetables suggested paprika matched well with onions. I only had smoked paprika, so I thought, "What the Hell, give it a go." It worked, and to my mind, worked well. It gave to soup a lovely light orange colour too, which was quite attractive. The usual method for my soups applied. All veg (in this case, just onions and garlic) roughly chopped, thrown into a pot with three chicken stock cubes, two teaspoons of the choosen herb/spice (i.e in this case, smoked paprika) and about a litre to litre and a half of water. Simmer till veg are very tender (some might say mushy) and then blend with a trusty hand blender. Mine has seen some use oover the years! This particular soup is going to be a new favourite I think. 

All of these soups are entirely vegetable based, no pulses or meat, so they stay light in calories. This is intentional. I do love soups with barley, lentils, peas and potatoes in them. They are good hearty fare, often more like a stew the way I make them. So I consider them a main meal. If I make my pea and ham soup, it's stodgy, stick-to-your-ribs comfort food, and it's got as many calories as a full meat and potatoes dinner. So I don't make it often, and I have it as the main meal of the day. TMM loves that soup. It's sooooo good with warm crusty bread and cheese! 

I find that I can eat large quantities of these veggie soups and they stay my hunger while allowing me to remain on track. I work the recipies out on the MyFitnessPal app. I type in the quantities of the raw ingredients, how many portions it makes and MFP tells me the approximate calorie count per portion. Then I can go straight to the food tracking diary part of the app and add as many portions as I want to eat that meal. It's great.