Soup fills you up

I watched the programme "10 things you need to know about losing weight" on BBC1 a few days ago and one of the 10 points was that the same meal made into a soup is more filling. The experiment they did was to feed half a platoon of soldiers a lunch of chicken, rice and veg and a glass of water, the other half the same but adding the water yo the food and blending to make a soup.
Then, after several hours of exercise, they measured how full the soldiers were and those that had soup were much more full. It wasn't how full they felt, they measured how full they actually were using ultrasound. Amazing! I've forgotten the science bit except that there's something that lets water through but holds food in for longer so if your liquid is mixed with food in a soup it will keep you fuller longer.
So soup is a great lunch if you want to avoid feeling hungry and snacking in the afternoon. I'm going to try that and am planning on increasing my soup repetoire. I've already tried pea and garlic (see post below) and had a go at chickpea and chilli yesterday in an attempt to tackle a cold, and I realise I've collected a number of soup recipes I've not yet tried. So look out for more soups coming soon!

A real pea souper

This soup was a real find and looks like a good one for a quick but impressive lunch or starter.



It's Nigella Lawson's Pea and Garlic soup discovered in Nigel Slater's Real Food. It's just garlic, frozen peas, stock, a bit of parmesan and butter. Oh and cream of course! But I don't think it needs the cream. Next time I'll try it without. The longest part is roasting the garlic, after that it's just a few minutes of boiling and blending, perfect!