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low carb and low calorie soups -suggestions?

Guna108

Well-Known Member
Messages
179
Location
UK
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi.
Can anyone share their recommendations for a vegetarian low carb/calorie soup that is quick to make? (Not with onions though!) I have a mug of marmite broth sometimes, but would like to make something with fresh vegetables that could be made in a big batch and frozen if possible.
 
Low carb, calorie and vegetarian? That’s above ground veg of your choice boiled in a gluten free stock cube. You could chop it all up and fry the veg in a tiny amount of ghee first.
 
wiflib said:
Low carb, calorie and vegetarian? That’s above ground veg of your choice boiled in a gluten free stock cube. You could chop it all up and fry the veg in a tiny amount of ghee first.
Click to expand...

@ wiflib Thanks
 
You could also try making a mushroom soup. Things that go well, flavour wise, are parsley or thyme, and garlic. Although traditional recipes probably fry the mushrooms a while and might include onions, you could adapt a pasta sauce into a soup - nigella Lawson suggests just chopping up raw mushrooms and adding lemon juice, parsley and crushed garlic. So, for a soup version just pop all that in a liquidiser (lots of mushrooms and parsley) and add a little water, until you get a texture you like. Then just reheat as needed from the freezer. Or you could cook up the mushrooms a tiny bit, chuck it all in a pan, liquidise with a stick blender - then freeze.
 
Why no onions? Do you just not like them or are you worried about the carbs? 1/2 cup sliced onions = 5 carbs and you will likely get more than 1 serving of soup out of that many onions.... Do you eat eggs? I'm a big fan of pho soup which I make with chicken broth but you could easily make it with miso or vegetable stock. I get the spice packs at the grocery to get the really authentic pho taste with no effort but I am sure you could look it up online if you are a purist! Basically pho will handle any/all veggie syou can throw at it. Instead of rice noodles use finely sliced green cabbage at the last moment. If you freee it I would likely not freeze the cabbage. Add a couple of chopped hard boiled eggs at serving time and you are done.
 
Is fish ok? If so- homemade tomato soup with tuna and served with a generous topping of sharp cheddar is pretty tasty. Canned tomatoes have 6 grams carb per cup btw. Sauté garlic, celery (and onions if you like) add finely chopped fresh or canned tomatoes with their juice (or whiz them in food processor) add the same amount of water as tomatoes. Throw on a can or two of tuna & juice packed in oil. If you happen to have a parmesan cheese rind hanging around in the fridge toss that into the pot. Season with celery seed, black pepper, a little basil, thyme, chilli pepper flakes or what have you and simmer till nicely done. Serve with a generous topping of sharp cheddar cheese. You could also throw in some finely chopped spinach and/or kale at the end of the cooking cycle. (if you are a gardener as I am kale and other greens production explodes at some point. I puree it in my food processor with water and freeze in ice cube trays. The kale cubes can be added to any soup or sauce to lunch up the nutrient and fibre count)
 
Usually fish isn't OK for vegetarians (they're living beings) but ymmv.

I'd use a lot of these suggestions but as a vegan I'd have to substitute for the ghee, eggs, and all the cheeses mentioned, which is easy done. If I remember rightly @Guna108 has religious dietary restrictions that mean all meat, fish, onions (including shallots & garlic) are out, and so are mushrooms.

I have promised myself that I will experiment a little more with Japanese oriented soups this year. I love miso paste and use it a lot, and tofu. As a soup it's a match made in heaven if you chuck in some greens and maybe carrot shavings. Not hugely substantial but very satisfying, and the tofu helps it "last" in the stomach because it's a protein food. I marinate the tofu first (all home made) but I know you can buy pre-marinaded tofu although I am not sure what they use in their marinade.
 
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@WuTwo I am thinking to buy ready made tofu, press it and then marinate it. I want to see if I can use it to make something similar to paneer to cook with masala and spinach once I start eating 'real food' again. I am starting to make a recipe book for then. I have been looking for garlic free miso, but no luck yet. Whilst I am lacto vegetarian at the moment., I think I will go back to being vegan again once I come off the Exante diet.
 
Don't forget that you can whip the silken tofu into soups if you don't want chunks. It'll help thicken the soup and add protein, whilst being low cal/low carb.

I usually make very firm tofu (nicer for scrambling) and now I'm thinking if I treat it as scramble once it's done I could put it in the soup .... (mash tofu with a fork to your desired consistency. I add turmeric (flavour and colouring) and whatever herbs/spices you want in there, fry gently for a while - takes about 8 minutes). That'd be interesting! If you've already marinaded you might not want the herbs, spices whatever.
 
Umami isn't OK for vegans (anchovy paste) but miso paste is OK

"Miso is a paste made from soybeans, sea salt and koji (a mold starter), and often mixed with rice, barley or other grains. The mixture is allowed to ferment for 3 months to 3 years, which produces an enzyme-rich food"

You'd be OK with that as far as I can see! Lots of flavour and goes with just about everything! If you added in some nooch as well it'd be incredibly savoury.
 
https://fodmarket.co.uk/products/ma...MI9PrNu9f44gIViLbtCh1KpgXuEAQYASABEgJzpfD_BwE

I have these stock cubes from before my diagnosis as they are vegetarian and onion/garlic free. It says they are gluten free, but it has sugar and maize in them as well as these other ingredients
Sea salt, maize, maltodextrin, sugar, natural vegetable flavours, yeast extract, dehydrated vegetables (celery spinach, bay leaf), canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, chilli. Are they ok to have on a low carb diet if they have sugar and maize in them?
 
There's a real range of acceptable options for those who consider themselves vegetarians....anyways...tofu will sub for eggs in any recipe and the vegan cheese options expand every year...
 

Stock cubes may be a high percentage of fat or sugar in themselves, but once diluted there's so little of each ingredient. I looked up Knorr Vegetable stock cubes (same sort of thing) and per 100 ml made up as directed you end up with

6 calories
0.5g carb
0.5g sugar
0.5g fat

I don't know how much of it you'd use in a dish but remember to split the totals in the cube by the number of servings in the dish.
 
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