A recent Woman's World magazine issue offered a recipe for a diet soup. They insist that we can eat goodies and still lose up to 11 pounds per week as long as we eat this soup for one meal each day. There are all kinds of claims in the article and I don't know if they're true or not, but I did try their diet soup recipe and can recommend it for several reasons:
- It's healthy
- It's low in calories
- It tastes GREAT!
Soup is pretty forgiving and I altered the recipe somewhat, but if you're interested, here it is – and if you find it in the magazine, know that I "halved" the recipe and I'm glad I did because it made a huge amount.
Diet Soup Recipe
1. Pour 1 T olive oil into a pot and saute 1 cup of onions and 1 cup of carrots for five minutes – I had a large vidalia onion and used the entire thing which was more than one cup
2. Throw in a 10 ounce container (I used a 15 ounce one) of sliced mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes.
3. Add four cloves of minced garlic (I dumped in a substantial amount – way more than four cloves because I adore garlic) and saute another minute.
[Be sure to follow through on the sauteeing – I think it’s what creates the great taste]
4. Add and simmer for 20-25 minutes until carrots are tender:
* 4 cups of broth
* 14.5 ounce can of chopped tomatoes
* 1 T tomato paste (I added about half a can)
* 1/2 T worcestershire sauce
* 1/2 t balsamic vinaigrette
* 1/2 t dried thyme (I was out of this so I skipped it)
5. After the simmering, add:
* 1 cup barley
* 3 cups spinach or kale – I had a 16 ounce bag of frozen spinach that I threw in so technically I only added 2 cups of spinach
Heat these last two ingredients and dig in.
Here's Why This Soup Is (Supposedly) A Diet Soup
According to the article, the soup helps us lose weight because …
+ Eating warm soup is very satisfying, especially this time of year (right now it's 21 degrees here in Georgia – wow, cold winter). Supposedly we will eat less because our tummies are happy. I do know that this soup is very filling.
+ Barley is a powerhouse grain. Most grains only have fiber on the outside but barley has layer after layer of fiber. It's 400% higher in fiber than brown rice! Plus it has protein and antioxidants. Woman's World claims that we will have lower levels of hunger hormones and higher levels of GLP-1, a hormone that suppresses appetite. Further, barley reduces fat-producing hormones as well. Whew. That's a lot of good stuff for a little grain.
+ Mushrooms are satisfying and increase vitamin D in the body, which fights fat production, among other great benefits.
+ Tomatoes and greens burn fat and give us vitamin C which is essential for fat burning.
+ Carrots are linked to a flat-belly hormone called adiponectin – and who doesn't want a flat stomach?
+ Garlic and onions help to destroy fat cells.
+ Olive oil boosts our metabolism.
A Note About Color
The picture in the magazine showed a soup with a much lighter brown color than mine. That's because I love Better Than Bouillon's Organic Vegetable Base and that's what I used for broth. It's made with "seasoned, concentrated vegetables" and is a very dark color. I don't know how much that affected the taste of this diet soup, but I can tell you it's a soup I enjoy eating. Being healthy and low in calories is great – but if it taste horrid, forget it.
Karen Duff says
Great Post! I’m a huge fan of soup diet recipes.