Spiced bean, pea, lentil and tomato soup

Posted on by gloriouslygoodfood
spiced lentil pea bean and tomato soup

This is a really hearty soup suitable for the whole family.  I made it as part of my liquid post-gastric-sleeve diet, but it would be equally suitable for anyone on a low-fat diet, or a reflux diet, or of course just someone who enjoys a wholesome nourishing soup! 

Because I need to be on liquids with ‘no bits’, I blitzed it as finely as I could, then put it through a sieve, but under other circumstances, I’d either just blitz it but not sieve away all the fibre goodness from the bean and lentil hulls, or would take some of the beans and lentils out before blitzing, then add them back in, to give the soup more of a chunky feel, so it’s up to how you like your soup! 

spiced bean pea lentil and tomato soup

Ingredients (for 2 very generous portions for people not on my diet!)

  • 2 handfuls dry cannellini beans (these may need soaking in cold water overnight before you cook them – check the pack for instructions)
  • 2 handfuls dry yellow split peas (these may need soaking in cold water overnight before you cook them – check the pack for instructions)
  • 1 handful dry green lentils (these may need soaking in cold water overnight before you cook them – check the pack for instructions)
  • 1 handful dry red lentils (these may need soaking in cold water overnight before you cook them – check the pack for instructions)
  • 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
  • 1l chicken or vegetable stock (I used 2 Knorr Chicken Stock Pots and 1l water)
  • 0.5l water
  • half a teaspoon Ras El Hanout spice mix
  • optional: low-fat cheese triangle (1 per portion) or a sprinkling of powdered milk or whey protein powder to add more protein into the soup (for post-bariatric surgery liquid diet supplementation)
  • optional: sea salt, to taste

Method

Place all ingredients (aside from the salt) in a large saucepan or stockpot and bring to the boil.  Boil on a high heat for 10 minutes. 

Turn the heat down, cover, and simmer / boil gently for about an hour and 20 minutes, checking that the beans and lentils are soft and easily squashable (otherwise cook a little longer). 

Liquidise in a jar blender or using a hand-held blender in the saucepan, then, if you’re using this for the post-bariatric surgery liquid diet, sieve to ensure there are no bits left.  If you are not following this diet, and prefer a chunkier soup, you can either just liquidise it but not sieve it, or take out some beans and lentils before liquidising the soup, then add those back in, so it has a more chunky texture.

Taste and add a sprinkling of sea salt if you feel it needs it.

Note: If you are following a post-bariatric surgery liquid diet and need to supplement your liquid nutrition with protein, you can add a little powdered milk, whey protein powder, or a cheese triangle melted into the soup. 

Serve and enjoy! 

Gloriously simple, gloriously good!

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian or medical professional.  These are simply ideas based on meals I have created to suit my own dietary needs and, as I’ve enjoyed them, I wanted to share them. If you are unsure about the suitability of any ingredients or recipes on my blog for your own requirements, please check with a health professional first. 

Advertisement

Hearty vegetable soup with tomatoes and chicken

Posted on by gloriouslygoodfood

This is another one of my low-cal, low-carb, low-fat recipes for my pre-op diet before I have weight loss surgery next week. 

Hearty vegetable soup with tomatoes and chicken - gloriouslygoodfood.com

The recipe is one of those ‘chuck things in’ kind of recipes, so the vegetable quantities are approximate.  Play around with it and find what suits your palate in terms of actual vegetables used and ratio of one to another 🙂

Ingredients (for two hearty / filling portions containing virtually no fat and half the amount of protein I was advised to have in one day during my pre-op diet)

  • 1 chicken thigh (boneless, skinless, all visible fat removed), approx. 100g raw weight
  • 1l chicken stock (I make this with 2 Knorr chicken stock pots and 1l water, but you can make your own low-fat stock or buy other stock cubes / pots)
  • 2-3 baby carrots or one standard carrot, scraped, topped and tailed (cut into smaller chunks if using a standard size carrot)
  • 2-3 broccoli florets
  • Approximately 200g tinned chopped tomatoes
  • 2 very small potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1 small courgette, cut into chunky slices

Method

Place all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until all ingredients are cooked and the harder vegetables are tender enough to break easily with a spoon. 

Once the soup is cooked, remove the chicken thigh and set it aside, then place the remaining ingredients (all stock and all vegetables) into a food processor.  Blend until smooth or, if you prefer, leave a few chunkier pieces in. 

Chop the chicken into pea-size pieces.  As this makes two portions,
place half the chicken pieces into a food storage container or bag and add half the soup.

If you don’t want that much soup in one go, you can of course split this into more portions.  If you are following a pre-op diet like mine, make sure you have enough protein in your other meal of the day if you have less than half the chicken thigh in one meal.

Serve the remaining half of soup, with the remaining half of chopped chicken pieces, immediately. 

Gloriously simple, gloriously good!

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian or medical professional.  These are simply ideas based on meals I have created to suit my own dietary needs and, as I’ve enjoyed them, I wanted to share them. If you are unsure about the suitability of any ingredients or recipes on my blog for your own requirements, please check with a health professional first.