Dieters' soup

calista, Jul 22, 9:43pm
Does anyone have the recipe for the Alison Holst dieters' soup please?. I think it may be in her soup book.

Also has anyone made this soup? I remember it has heaps of ingredients, so I am wondering how it tastes.

I would also be interested in any similar soups,

Thanks.
whitehead., Jul 23, 2:56am
ive never seen it but if you take the fat off any stock you make from a boiled chicken and add lots of veg after a while at the simmer you get a good soup . i find having a small crock pot and keep changing what veg i use i can cook a good meal and use all the veg i have in my fridge
buzzy110, Jul 23, 5:20am
I don't know about Alison's soup but here is the one Liz Hurley claims she uses:

"Here is Elizabeth Hurley's recipe for a low-fat, vitamin-packed watercress soup that will satisfy your grumbling stomach and boost your energy levels:

1. Sweat a small onion, finely chopped, in a little chicken stock.
2. Add two diced potatoes, two-and-a-half pints of chicken stock or water, and bring to the boil.
3. Add salt and pepper and simmer until the potatoes are soft.
4. Add three large bunches of watercress, stems removed, and stir for three minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and blend.
6. Put soup in a metal bowl and place in a sink full of ice and cold water to keep the colour green.

From this site: http://www.slim-expert.com/more/elizabeth-hurley-on-watercress-soup-diet/

The basic ingredients are all there. If you want you can probably add more "above ground" vegetables to that.
calista, Jul 23, 6:48am
Whitehead, thanks I already do that, but though I'd try for a change in taste as I'm getting a bit bored with it and I remember that the AH recipe had a lot of different herbs and spices in it.

Buzzy, that looks interesting - thanks.
samanya, Jul 23, 7:37am
That recipe sounds delicious.
I've grown Watercress in my pond . but was bit wary about using it, because all aquatics take up nutrients from the water they are grown in (as do all soil grown veges). Watercress grown naturally, in my neck of the woods is prone to 'liver fluke' (sheep country) & I'm apprehensive about using it, gathered from waterways & very seldom see it in any fruit & vege shops . sad, huh? .
245sam, Jul 23, 9:03am
calista, I think the following is the recipe you're wanting.

Alison Holst's "DIETER'S DELIGHT SOUP"
For 12 cups, 6-8 large servings.
1-2 large onions
2 tsp olive or other oil
1 tsp dried oreganum
2 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp dried thyme
2 tsp finely chopped garlic *
1 tsp minced or grated fresh ginger *
1-1½ tsp Thai green curry paste
4-6 large stalks celery
1-2 green or red peppers
500g cabbage
6 cups hot water plus 1 cup cold water
1 packet Cream of Chicken Soup
1 tbsp cornflour
2 x 400g cans Italian or Mexican Tomatoes
2-3 tbsp tomato paste
chopped fresh herbs
1 tbsp pesto **

Cook the chopped onion in the oil in a large pot, over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the next 6 seasonings, and cook with the onion while you chop up, then add as each is prepared, the celery, peppers and cabbage. (Chop the cabbage into small chunky pieces rather than long shreds.) Add the hot water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Mix the powdered soup, cornflour and cold water together to a smooth paste, then stir into the boiling vegetable mixture. When the soup has thickened, add the contents of the cans of tomatoes, the tomato paste, herbs and the pesto if you have it.
As soon as the soup boils again, remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary, until the soup has a really good flavour.
Refrigerate in covered containers as soon as the soup is cool enough. Heat up only as much as you need for each meal. Refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze for longer storage.
HINTS from Alison
“I know that the ingredient list is long, but half are flavourings, without which the soup is boring!
Remember that the green curry paste contains chili, so, the more you add, the hotter you make the soup.
* Somewhat to my surprise, I found that the ready-prepared chopped or pureed garlic and ginger in jars gave the soup a stronger, better flavour than the fresh product. I suggest you use them.
** Use bought or homemade pesto.”

I haven't made this soup so I'll be very interested to know what you think of it if you make it. :-))
fefeoc, Jul 23, 9:14am
I have made this and I'm sorry I thought it was yuk. I use Alison Holst's recipes all the time and can't remember the last time I had a failure. but this did not do it for me, sorry.
awoftam, Jul 23, 9:18am
Why be sorry? If you didn't like it you didn't like it. Are there others you have tried that you really enjoy? Personally I think 'Dieter's Soup' is a pretty crappy name for a recipe. a good vege soup will always be kind on the waistline why ruin it by giving it such a horrible name!
fefeoc, Jul 23, 9:41am
I love loads of her soups. I make a simple grated vege one - which has as its base just powdered stock and water - and a variation on this using home-made chicken stock, bits from a chicken carcase corn and skinny noodles; then there's the pumpkin one made with cumin and green curry. I can warmly recommend pretty much any and all recipes in the Alison Holst soup book.

Just not the dieters'delight one!
asue, Jul 23, 9:57am
Vegetable soup from weight watchers - 0 points per serve - Serves 4

Place in a large saucepan, 1 medium leek, sliced; 350 gms of chopped broccoli; 2 medium carrots, chopped; 4 medium zucchini, chopped; half red capsicum, chopped; 5 cups of water; 4 vegetable stock cubes.

Cover and bring to the boil, lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

I have made this and changed the vegies, stock and added flavourings to my own taste.
calista, Jul 23, 2:36pm
That's the one Sam, thanks. I had forgotten the it had green curry ,so am now less enthusiastic. I'll give it go when I round up all the ingredients. Actually the weight watchers one does sound more palatable, and less work, so I may make that first.

Thanks too fefeoc for your honesty.

Does anyone have the Digby Law soup book? I saw it in Whitcoulls but didn't really stop to read it. I have a Whitcoulls book token, so I may go back and check it out. I have got into a rut with my soupmaking and am feeling a bit bored.
eastie3, Jul 24, 4:11am
I have Digby's Soup cookbook. It's dated 1982 so I guess that's when I bought it. I've used it a lot over the years and it contains my favourite Kumara and Celery soup. My lovely Dad, who had a real aversion to celery used to ask for seconds! Another often made was Green Velvet soup.

My daughter often made the Peanut and Tomato soup when she was a teenager, it tasted a lot better than it sounds. I'm happy to post recipes if anyone wants them.

I think it's worthwhile buying this book.
uli, Jul 24, 5:48am
How on earth do you "sweat" an onion in chicken stock? You are boiling it!

Sweating means removing the water and caramelizing the thing. You need some sort of fat for it or it will stick to your pot or pan - or maybe you could do it in one of those "healthy" non-stick devices?
uli, Jul 24, 5:49am
Sounds great - however without even trying to figure out the exact calorie content I am surprised it has a 0 rating on WW. At a guess it would have about 500 calories (depending on the stock cubes).
buzzy110, Jul 24, 10:49pm
I hear you uli. The low fat movement uses that method, at medium heat, for sauteing vegetables. Caroline, from the KISS Diet has always used a little water for sauteing. The liquid evaporates leaving semi soft, hot pieces of vegetables which are then finished off in the dry, preferably non-stick, pan. It is not ideal. In fact it is hideous but as with not eating sugar, we can get used to anything if we do it often enough. It does not 'caramelise' the sugars at all leaving that awful taste and smell that comes when onions, celery and garlic are not properly sauteed. It doesn't matter because there are cooks on here who never saute and they don't mind. In fact, I have been taken to task for recommending proper sauteing by a poster who thought she was the best cook of all. She never sauteed apparently. Eeeewww.
buzzy110, Jul 24, 10:52pm
But it serves 4 so that breaks down to 125cals per serve. Not too bad if you don't mind being hungry. It would be a good recipe for anyone on the 500cals day of the 5:2 diet so long as you didn't mind the lack of protein.
whitehead., Jul 24, 10:55pm
your right to be careful i used to own a small farm with a road side stream people were always in the stream picking it ,i got sick of telling them the septic from the house at the top of the road ran into the stream and made it unfit for eating . this stream is in tawa wellington
sampa, Jul 25, 12:06am
I would happily 'sweat' my veggies in stock if it means I end up looking like Liz H. ;-)

Note to calista - Digby Laws soup book is a worthwhile purchase as are his other books - pickles & chutneys and A Vegetable Cookbook (a particular favourite of mine).
uli, Jul 25, 12:12am
I think the main thing you need to be worried about is liver fluke.
That means you need to have sheep nearby who are infected. Not very likely along a street in Wellington.

If you cook the stuff at a rolling boil for 10 minutes nothing will survive.

If you eat it the "healthy" way as a water cress salad or add at the last minute to a soup so it stays green and not turn a khaki colour then yes it could be dangerous.
calista, Jul 25, 2:21am
Thanks Sampa and eastie regrading DL.

My great, great grandfather was an early settler here in Christchurch and he apparently sowed watercress in the rivers - not that it would be safe now.

I was not proposing to use the WW soup as an entire meal, but to add some variety to my soupmaking.
buzzy110, Jul 25, 4:34am
I often see his books in second hand book shops and sometimes, even in OP shops, especially Hospice shops. It pays to keep your eyes open and browse if you have time. You can pick up some real bargains.
sarahb5, Feb 14, 9:52am
I open up my veggie bin at the end of the week and use up most if not all the leftover bits and pieces, ie. one carrot, a handful of broccoli stalls, a few bits of pumpkin, some floppy celery and bendy zucchini - every week is different and you can change the flavour with herbs and spices as you wish.