Tomato Soup

A few months ago I decided to give the 5:2 "diet" a bit of a whirl - for a couple of weeks at any rate to see how I went (and in fact I’m still doing it, apart from when on holidays or work trips). Although the 5 days of eating what you want (well within reason, as a woman you’re still supposed to limit your calorie intake to 2000 calories on the “feast” days), was of course plenty appealing, the 2 “fast” days a week frankly terrified me.

But actually, it has been absolutely fine - some days there are moments when I am eyeing up the cat and thinking how tasty she looks - but generally it is OK. I think the key is to plan ahead: making sure that you will have plenty to eat within those 500 calorie allowance onn those days. Or at least as “plenty to eat” as 500 calories will allow you - and this frankly is where vegetables come in... and soups are an excellent way of upping your veg intake generally.

First things first then, a dead easy tomato soup, that not only looks bright and cheerful and delicious but actually tastes it too and is only around 85 calories a serving

Tomato Soup

serves 4  

5 sprays of low cal cooking spray

1 banana shallot, chopped

2 small carrots, finely chopped

½ red chilli, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

800g ripe tomatoes, decored and chopped

2 tsp tomato purée

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 bay leaves

1200ml hot vegetable stock

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 Spray a fairly large saucepan with the cooking spray and heat over a medium heat until you can just feel heat rising from the pan.

Tip in the shallot, chilli, garlic and carrot and stir together. Turn the heat to low, pop on a lid and cook the vegetables slowly until they're soft and just starting to colour, about 10-15 minutes. If the veg start to catch, add a splash of water to the pan.

Add the tomatoes and tomato purée and stir it all together.

Tip in the balsamic, bay leaves and a hearty grinding of black pepper.

Stir around and then cook on a low heat, covered for a further 10-15 minutes. Stir on occasion.

Pour in the stock and give everything another good stir then bring to the boil. Turn back down to a simmer, cover again and let bubble gently for another 25-30 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let cool a little. Remove the bay leaves then blitz with a stick blender.

Reheat when you are ready to eat, making sure to check the seasoning carefully before serving.