Soup Trimmings for Healthy Lunch Options – Some tasty ideas how to “dress” your low-calorie lunchtime soups with toppings and dippers; lunch doesn’t have to be boring, and these ideas are quick and easy to rustle together, as well as being healthy and full of exciting tastes and flavours.

Do Lunch Better

Following on from my last posts about doing lunch better, I’m now going to share some ideas how to dress up your “diet” or “low-calorie and low-fat” soups; soup is one of the tastiest and most delicious ways of filling yourself up at lunchtime, whether you are on a diet or not…..and, it’s also a wonderful way to warm yourself up on a cold winter’s day, not unlike some of the days we have been having recently! I’m testing some of the New Covent Garden Soup Co’s Skinny Range of soups, and one thing I am finding, is just how filling they are for low-calorie and low-fat soups…..there are currently SIX soups to choose from in the range, with a selection of meat, vegan and vegetarian options on offer…..my personal favourites are the SKINNY CHICKEN & CHICKPEA TAGINE soup (only 114 calories per serving) and the veggie SKINNY VEGETABLE ARRABBIATA soup (a very low 95 calories per serving). The Arrabbiata is a spicy Italian soup using tomatoes, red chillies and garlic, these ingredients are combined with orzo pasta for texture, as well as mixed peppers to bring you this fiery low-fat soup, which is truly delectable. For more spice, with tender chicken and mixed pulses, the Tagine soup is packed with chickpeas and lentils with red chillies, turmeric and cinnamon to bring you this divine low-fat soup, which is based on a Moroccan tagine. And, BOTH soups provide two portions of your five a day. So, today, I’d like to share some tasty Soup Trimmings for Healthy Lunch Options below, in an attempt to add a little extra pizzazz to make you do lunch better!

Delicious though these soups are, as well as any homemade soups you may have made, I love the fact you can jazz up a bowl of soup with an exciting range of easily prepared toppings and dippers. My suggestions today, for low-calorie and low-fat skinny soups, are: chopped cherry tomatoes, chopped spring onions, low-fat Greek style yogurt, smoked paprika, rocket leaves and for delicious dunking and dipping, some mini pitta bread fingers! The mini pitta breads were sprayed with low-fat spray, and then I sprinkled some herbs and seasoned salt over them, before popping them into a hot oven for about 2 to 3 minutes, all whilst the soup was heating up on the stove. They were then cut into fingers, making them ideal for dunking! As well as these ideas that I rustled together the other day, you can also add low-fat croutons, grated carrot, some “dry-fried” onions and all manner of extra cooked vegetables such as stir-fried peppers, cabbage, shredded sprouts and even bean sprouts for an oriental taste! To make it easier for you to count calories, I have listed the calories for each of my serving ideas below:

Mini Pitta Bread (30g) = 65 to 79 calories

Spring Onions (50g) = 16 calories

Low-fat Greek style yogurt (100g) = 61 calories

Rocket leaves (30g) = 9 calories

Cherry Tomatoes (6 tomatoes) = 18 calories

Smoked Paprika (1/4 teaspoon) = 0

I hope my toppings and dipper ideas have proved useful today, these ingredients work particularly well with tomato based soups and spicy soups, and are easily available, in fact most of us will have them in our pantry, fridge and/or store cupboards already, as well as being easy to prepare and assemble. With snow forecast for most of the British Isles this week, why not make sure you have a large supply of ready-made soups to hand, or make a big pot of homemade soup today, I have some great soup ideas here: Lavender and Lovage Homemade Soups  Have a great week, and if it snows where you are, stay warm! Karen 

*Collaborative paid content as part of the campaign Do Lunch Better*