Wednesday 5 November 2014

Cauliflower Chicken Soup

I love soups, especially in winter. That warming-through feeling, along with soups being (generally) quite healthy means they are great for those of us who'd like to lose a little weight.

The only problem with soups I find though is that I miss chewing, and I never really feel "full" with just a soup. I love the Weight Watchers soups which are great if I want really minimal calories but that lovely soup feeling, but often it just doesn't feel like enough. I feel like I need some bread and butter too and I could really do without the carbs!

From:http://www.britishcornershop.co.uk/images/large/SGN0143.jpg


Enter: Cauliflower!

I was never really all that fussed about cauliflower until I started using Pinterest. Cauliflower cheese was nice, but other than boiled I'd never really had it any other way and found it to be quite bland. But then came roasting, and it was delicious! And then came the idea of "ricing" the cauliflower - putting it into a blender until it's fine and light and very similar in texture to rice (you can grate the cauliflower but it takes FOREVER). I often have this as an accompaniment at dinner in place of potatoes even if it's not really a "rice" dish - it's just another way to eat cauliflower (and tastes amazing when drizzled with a cheese sauce or gravy, yum!)

I wondered whether riced cauliflower could be added to a soup to add a bit more thickness and bite?

Huzzah, it can!



I microwave steamed the cauliflower for 5 minutes in a bowl covered with a plate, and I then microwaved my soup for the 3 minutes it suggested on the can. I then mixed the both together and voila! It might look a little like porridge but it really tasted yummy and made my chicken soup all the more filling - all with no extra carbs and very few extra calories! This would be great for any of you following the 5:2 diet for a "2" day as it will give you more to chew and very few extra calories.

The next thing I want to try is mixing cauliflower and egg and baking in a sheet so it becomes like lasagne "pasta" sheets which I saw on The Iron You blog! Will be giving that a go soon! No carb pasta? YES PLEASE!


2 comments:

  1. Hate cauliflower. I attempted to consider it but then I remembered it'd be like what I'd assume munching on a sponge would taste like. Fab idea for bulking out the soups tho! Maybe there's other stuff that can be added for similar effect. Up for the research challenge? I'd be interested to see the outcome lol x )O( x

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  2. I promise you that you don't really even taste the cauli! :) xxx

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