The crazy-tiny-amount-of-calories lunch option you will never get sick of which costs basically no money

I remember when lunch used to consist of a sandwich and a bag of crisps. I used to be able to eat a big dirty cheese sandwich every single day when I was in college, and I was tiny. Ah well, such is the passing of time. My lunch options have diminished since the humble sandwich is no longer an option, and I've been on the quest for the perfect, healthy, low calorie lunch for a long time. 

One of my favourite food bloggers and very good friend Seaneen (of the beautifully written food blog 9 Bean Row) wrote this blog a while ago about one of my favourite fairytales, Stone Soup. I'm sure she wont mind me quoting her directly:

"The story goes that many years ago a soldier, hungry and weary from battle, came upon a small village. The villagers, suffering a meagre harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met him at the village square, wringing their hands and bemoaning the lack of anything to eat. He thought for a moment and said to the villagers: "Your tired fields have left you nothing to share, so I will share what little I have: the secret of how to make soup from a stone."

The story continues that a fire was soon put to a large pot in the town square as the soldier took out a velvet sack from which he took a smooth river stone and dropped it in the pot. "Now this will be a fine soup", he cried, rubbing his hands in anticipation, "but a pinch of salt and some parsley would make it wonderful!" Up jumped a villager, crying "What luck! I've just remembered where some has been left!" And off she ran, returning with an apronful of parsley and a turnip. As the pot boiled on, the memory of the village improved: soon barley, onions, carrots and beef had found their way into the great pot.

The soldier and the villagers shared the finest meal that any of them had eaten in months, and in the morning the village elder offered to buy the magical stone from the soldier. The soldier refused. As he left, the stranger came upon a group of village children standing near the road. He gave the velvet bag containing the stone to the youngest child, and confided that it was not the stone, but the villagers that had performed the magic." "There is no secret, but this is certain: it is only by sharing that we may make a feast". And off the soldier wandered, down the road."

This fable is such a beautiful story of sharing, and coming together, and the communal nature of food. And soup is one of those foods that evokes nostalgia, comforting 'hug in a bowl' feelings. There is nothing nicer than a big bowl of chunky vegetable soup on a freezing, rainy, miserable day. There is nothing like soup to bring together cheap, leftover ingredients (your potatoes and veg after a Sunday roast, or veg that is about to turn) and making an incredibly nutritious, healthy and low calorie meal. My favourite sort of soup is one that lets the vegetables sing, their delicate flavours warming through the spike of chili and cayenne pepper, or the pungency of garlic. ALSO - and here's the best bit. This soup is a magical calorie-hiding food. You can literally consume vast baths of this stuff. There is a miniscule amount of calories in this soup if made by the basic recipe below. AND - you can sneak in loads of healthy stuff like protein powder, seeds, etc and you wont even taste them. This soup has under 100 calories per serving. You will not be hungry after it. HONESTLY.
 

I make a variation of this soup once a week and bring it in for lunch most days. Before Christmas when I wasnt watching what I was eating, I would make croutons with crusty bread that is a day or two old, a few glugs of olive oil, garlic, fresh chili and mixed herbs of your choice whacked in a roasting tin and baked for 20-30 mins. These are to die for. If you thicken it with starchy veg (potato or sweet potato) the calorie count goes up to about 200 calories, but its still really healthy so dont worry too much about counting calories when youre consuming veggies.

The soup doesnt miss the croutons or starchy veg though - theyre a lovely indulgence but not necessary. I vary the vegetables and seasonings, but overall the recipe remains the same. I'll include a few options extras at the end so you can see ways in which you can modify a basic soup recipe if you get bored.

Vegetable and lentil soup
2 leeks
2 carrots

2 onions

1 bunch kale

2 celery sticks

5-6 cloves of garlic

1 thumb sized piece of ginger

1 x red chili

approx 100g lentils

Fresh or dried parsley

Mixed herbs (approx 1 tbsp)

2 x stock cubes/tbsp of bullion

1 x bay leaf (optional)

1 - 2 tbsp turmeric (optional) - if you dont have turmeric use paprika (this is for colour)

1 -2 tbsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Juice of 1 x lemon

Other additional/optional extras

2 x potatoes

100g natural yoghurt

Sweet potato

Tomatoes (1 x tin)

Chick peas instead of lentils

1 x tbsp Worcester sauce

Toppings - any of the below/combination of the below
Croutons (as above)
1 x tbsp natural yoghurt
Fresh flat leaf parsley/coriander (chopped finely)
Salsa (as per this recipe)

You can mix up the veg if you like too, but this is the recipe I generally stick to because its all veg that I like. Fire everything into a pot with enough boiling water to cover the vegetables and then about an inch more (depending on the size of the pot), cover with a lid and cook for 35-45 mins on a simmer. When its done, you can blend it if you like blended soup. Personally, I like to pulse a few times, it so its not completely smooth.

This will keep in the fridge for 1 week approx and will be enough for about 6 lunches.