Soup

[Bb14]

Hi all.
Been keto for 2 years now and got solutions for everything apart from soup. Yes I can do a clear broth but I miss a lovely comforting soup. Only option is broccoli and Stilton. Hit me!

Cauliflower!

I'll look up a recipe.

We've got the Covent garden a soup a day for a year recipe book, and we use a load from that.
Although we often find their flavours can be a bit wussy, so we bump them up a bit

Watercress is gorgeous, when watercress is in season.

French onion! although how anyone can eat French onion soup without the cheesey slice of bread is beyond me.

I often make minestrone at home and it can be low carb fairly easily by omitting the beans and pasta.

Basic recipe:
Pancetta or bacon
2 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1 stick celery
(Optional carrot, depending how low carb veggie you like to go. Could use a little celeriac instead but it does have a strong flavour)
2 tins tomatoes (plum ones chopped are tastier than already chopped ones)
Stock (again chicken or beef tastier but can be veggie)
A variety of veggies whatever you have on hand - this is good for using up the last scraps of the vegetable drawer. Broccoli or cauliflower stalks, swede, courgettes, peppers, French beans would all be good and you should ideally have a shredded leafy green like spring greens or savoy cabbage too.

Fry the pancetta or bacon, chopped into small cubes and allow to render and crisp on a low to medium heat then add shallots, garlic, celery and carrot if using, diced small and cook for 5-10 mins until softened. The bacon should provide enough fat for frying but you can add olive oil or coconut oil if needed.
Add other veggies now if they would also benefit with some extra cooking, all diced or in thin strips or matchsticks.
Add tomatoes and stock and simmer until veggies are soft then add final veggies eg shredded cabbage in the last few minutes of cooking. The flavours of the basic ingredients are delicious but you could also add herbs eg rosemary, thyme, bay during cooking and/or parsley/basil at the end.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with grated parmesan.

chop shallot, olive oil, whole bag of watercress, chicken stock

carrot, courgette, chopped tom, stock onion, oil lovely

lentils, cumin, onion, tom puree, chopped tom, bay leaf, white vinegar, oil, stock

can you tell i'm a lazy bugger

@lovelysoap

oh I don't know. You used the words chop & chopped so you can't be that lazy.

Unfortunately that wouldn't anywhere near low carb enough for me (I'm diabetic, I low carb to avoid medication)

@Bb14 I think it's an impossible ask.

A friend made soup for us for lunch the other day. It was very very nice, but suspiciously thick. I checked to make sure her DH hadn't added anything (he likes to fiddle/improve her dishes 🤦🏻‍♀️) but he swore he hadn't). So anyway she lists what's in it ... then says 'oh and a potato to thicken it if course' 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

I'll just explain to my blood sugars that the potato was necessary & They won't spike then...

so weird as she'd never serve me an actual potato.

I finally learned how to make the Szechuan style hot pots recently. Using the techniques and flavours it makes soups into an adventure. Helps that I stumbled on some decent Szechuan peppercorns with fragrance and zing (not the musty and dried up dull “dead” kinds I’m used to)

As well as that, I learned how to make Camembert soup by tweaking a recipe so that the potatoes are substituted by 70% squash/pumpkin and 30% cauliflower. I’m not a big fan of Camembert or cauliflower but this is delicious, and so, so easy (butter, leek/spring onion, squash, cauliflower, Camembert, water/stock, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with bacon pieces or other flavourful morsels to serve)

Can you share the recipes please?

I responded earlier but my post disappeared. I’ll cover the Camembert soup one first as it doesn’t need many ingredients.

20g butter
40g sliced spring onions (less carbs than leek)
70g thinly sliced butternut squash or a firm tasty pumpkin (like kabocha)
30g sliced cauliflower
sauté these together over medium heat for about 5 mins
add 300g of water (or stock)
gently bring to boil then turn down and simmer for about 15 mins

add 50g of Camembert cut into pieces and stir for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper (pref white pepper) to taste and ensure squash is cooked to softness. Take off heat.
Puree with liquidiser or blender.

Enough for two portions. Once in bowl drizzle on your choice of vegetable oils (olive, avocado or pumpkin seed all work, alone or together) and, if you have the inclination, sprinkle on a strong tasting topping, such as bits of crispy bacon or smoked chili flakes.

For Chinese hotpot styles it takes a bit of a commitment.

It’s becoming easier and easier to find ready made packs of Sichuan hot pot bases in shops that sell East Asian ingredients, but I don’t know what the carb content of these are as I make my own.
I have a wonderful book by Mandy Lee called “The Art of Escapism Cooking” which gives lots of ways of introducing big bold exciting flavours into your food.

One of the recipes is for a delicious chilli oil. It is covered in this video

It’s the sort of oil that can transform something you may have already eaten the day before. For instance, French Pot Au Feu, which I love, I can make a huge batch and have it two days in a row as the chilli oil completely changes the flavours.

There’s a recipe on YouTube called “My favorite Sichuan Hot Pot recipe, from 1972” which explains how to make a base to enrich the soup flavours further, but it uses quite a few bean based pastes, which are high carb. The main one is doubanjiang, and as it has so much flavour you won’t need that much in your eventual soup. This is why I like using the chilli oil as I don’t need to lean quite so much on the bean based condiments.

Another key is getting GOOD Sichuan peppercorns, vibrant red, strong, delicious citrus scent and the make your mouth tingle like a school bell is ringing inside of it.

@GreenAndSpringy Thank you!

Cauliflower cheese soup! Add a bit of mustard and serve with crispy bacon on the top
Use a really mature cheddar for it

cream of mushroom might work for low carb.

I know this is an old thread, but just in case anyone is still looking:

• celeriac, leek and kale soup, with veg stock, black pepper and cream
• celery, garlic, courgette, parsley with ditto
• swede, leek, tomato, fresh coriander and harissa and a splosh of yoghurt or creme fraiche OR this https://littlesunnykitchen.com/roasted-swede-soup/ replacing the carrots with celeriac or courgette if liked
• spring vegetable - veg or chicken stock with spring onion, fresh herbs, a few chopped mangetout, a few french beans, a few sliced button mushrooms, a few spinach leaves or spring greens leaves finely shredded, or some watercress. If carb limits allow, a little grated carrot and/or chopped green pepper is nice, also. A squeeze of lemon optional.
• gazpacho-type chilled soups - like this https://www.themediterraneandish.com/easy-tomato-gazpacho-recipe/ (as she suggests, omit the bread)
• almond soup - like this https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/spanish/ajo-blanco-%E2%80%93-chilled-almond-soup but replacing the grapes/apple with chopped fresh herbs, shredded raw spinach, wild rocket etc etc or perhaps some chopped ripe tomato
• asparagus - example here https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/asparagus-soup-with-lemon-and-parmesan.html You could swap the onions for leeks or shallots

Chicken & mushroom.
I bought a soup maker which has been brilliantly easy but you could just as easily do it in a pan

Cooked chicken, left over from whatever you previously cooked, roughly chopped
A handful of mushrooms roughly chopped
a knob of butter
2 cloves of garlic
a chicken stock cube
water

Cook it all together & blend with a stick blender if not using a soup maker