Soup For Lunch

Many soups make great calorie-restricted meals. Although canned soups are usually high in sodium, if you are not watching your blood pressure, they are fine for a quick, inexpensive meal.

Stay away from most cream soups. Forget cheese soups as well. These are too high in calories and low in nutrients. Most bean soups are surprisingly low in nutrients for the calories they provide. If you're low in folate though, a cup of bean soup with a salad and some chicken breast makes a fine balanced meal.

Some good canned soup choices, all by themselves -

Manhattan style clam chowder - 16 oz. is only 237 calories, and provides lots of Vitamin A and B-12. A little high in carbs with a P/C/F ratio of 22/56/22. A good balance of nutrients.

Chunky Beef Vegetable Soup - 16 oz is 300 calories, with a P/C/F of 28/45/27 - close to Zone. Even better balance of nutrients, with lots of B vitamins and minerals, and good A.

Some soups make a good lunch if you add some lean meat to them. Think of a couple of ounces of chicken breast, turkey breast, a chicken sausage, Canadian bacon or lean ham.

Minestrone - 16 oz is a low, low 145 calories, so you're going to want to eat this with something else. This would actually make a perfectly good breakfast for a light eater. The P/C/F is a little high in carbs at 20/53/27. Not so balanced, the vitamins are mostly A and folate. If you ate this with some lean meat, it would make a very balanced meal.

Tomato Soup - prepared with water, 16 oz is also 145 calories. Needs some lean meat added to balance out its P/C/F of 11/78/21. A nice balance of nutrients otherwise, with lots of C, a nice mix of B vitamins and minerals.

And if you have even the most minimal of cooking skills you can make great homemade soups in 30 minutes. Start with a couple of cups of chicken broth. Throw in your best vegetables. Cook for 20 minutes. Run it through the blender if you like it French style and creamy. Add chopped chicken breast or lean ham or even a tin of smoked oysters, leftover salmon. Be creative. You can make soups yourself that far surpass the nutrient value of canned soups.

Here's two of my favorite homemade versions:

CRON Oyster stew: Start with 2 cups of chicken broth, add 1 cup of chopped kale, 1/2 cup of chopped onion, 3 or 4 chopped mushrooms, and a drained tin of smoked oysters. Simmer for 20 minutes. If you like oyster stew, you will be surprised how fabulous this tastes. It's very nutritious. 16 oz is 300 calories, with a P/C/F ratio of 40/40/20. This is a major source of all B vitamins, high in A and C, and also high in all the minerals except for calcium. This is a superfood that will put you in good shape for the rest of the day. You might eat this when you know your other meals will not be that nutritious. This has huge amounts of zinc and B-12.

Greek asparagus soup: Start with 2 cups of chicken broth, 12 oz of trimmed fresh or frozen asparagus spears (throw the woody ends away), 1/2 a cup of chopped onions, garlic, 1/2 cup of spinach or chard. Simmer 20 minutes and run through the blender with 2 oz of feta cheese added. Throw in a couple of ounces of cubed lean ham. Season with pepper and lots of dill. This is only 200 calories for 16 oz. and very filling. P/C/F is low in carbs at 28/31/48 (kind of Atkins). This is high in all nutrients - very balanced. You could make this soup with broccoli as well.