You’ll find this low calorie tomato and white bean soup extremely filling and rich in flavour. Not only is it full of essential daily vitamins and minerals, but it’s also versatile enough for you to make it your own, by using any kind of tinned beans you want with the same tomato base!
So how was your weekend? I know it was over nearly 2 days ago but I figure if you’re anything like me then you are pretty busy working on a Monday and probably don’t have much time to read my musings of a weekend gone by. So that’s why I like to post my updates on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s!
After another 10k on Saturday at the gym in my training for The Great Scottish Run this coming Sunday, I’d planned a day re-doing some of my recipe photographs and practicing various angles as well as perfecting my new lower calorie banoffee cheesecake recipe. Well, it didn’t quite turn out that way. In re-doing my Scottish porridge oats pancake pictures, I couldn’t quite get the jug of plum sauce to pour exactly where I wanted it. I tried again Sunday morning but it still wasn’t right. I mean the sauce shouldn’t be on the plate really, it should be on top of the pancakes! I reckon by the time I’ve perfected it, and the amount of time I’m spending on it, it’ll be some kind of “Mona Lisa” type food picture, lol. 😀
The banoffee cheesecake was my second attempt. I reckon I’ve got the taste right now. Obviously Lynne who is my chief taster will verify that before the recipe actually goes to publication. However, I was nervous that the consistency wasn’t thick enough and the topping would turn out a splodgy mess. I was right. On Sunday when I was delicately lifting the cheesecake from its tin, it looked ok to begin with, but then the cheesecake mixture began to seep out, and like a fountain it poured all over the kitchen worktop. I should have had Lynne video it, it was really funny!
So, all in all, the cooking / photographing side of the weekend was a bit “patchy” to say the least. These things happen. I’ll keep practicing until I’m happy and the master taster and website editor (aka Lynne) provides her seal of approval.
It was good to get out of the house on Sunday and go for a long car drive to St. Andrews to drop Lynne off there for some work she was doing with the St. Andrews University students. We had an amazing lunch together at The Doll’s House Restaurant. Extremely reasonably priced, perfect sized portions and a nice atmosphere. It was such a lovely day, very warm, clouds high in the sky and I enjoyed the beautiful evening drive back to Glasgow.
So, onto today’s tomato and white bean soup recipe. I have to confess this has been one I’ve been wanting to post for a while. I’ve made several versions over the last few weeks to check that the taste and texture were consistent and to also try different kinds of white beans and I settled on white kidney beans which are really just white Italian cannellini beans anyway. However, use normal kidney beans and feel free to experiment yourself with what you prefer.
I’ve a back log of soup recipes I’ve been waiting to post. Some of them one’s I’ve made for many years, some pretty simple and quite well known, but always my healthier variations on the standard ones. Why haven’t they been posted yet? Well I’ve been holding off until the weather gets a little cooler. But as it isn’t, and we are literally basking in fantastic late summer temperatures of nearly 20 degrees, I’ve held off. I mean I eat soup all year, but not everyone does! But I can’t hold off any more, so here they come now! Firstly this warm and hearty tomato and white bean soup.
You'll find this low calorie tomato and white bean soup extremely filling and rich in flavour.
- Low calorie oil spray
- 1 large onion , diced
- 3 garlic cloves , chopped
- 400 g ripe tomatoes , chopped
- 250 ml passata
- 6 freshly torn basil leaves
- 1/2 litre vegetable stock
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 can white kidney beans drained and rinsed
- Chopped basil / parsley to garnish
- Spray the bottom of a medium size saucepan 5 times with the low calorie oil spray. Turn the heat on high under the saucepan, and then once the oil begins to bubble turn the heat down to medium.
- Add the diced onion and chopped garlic and continually stir both to soften, adding splashes of hot water if either begin to stick or burn. About 5 minutes.
- Once the onion and garlic are softened add the chopped tomatoes and cook, stirring regularly for 5 minutes.
- Add the passata, and torn basil leaves then the vegetable stock. Stir the mixture thoroughly together.
- Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, allow to cool a little, and then blitz the soup base mixture thoroughly in a blender / food processor.
- Add the blended soup base mixture back to the saucepan, add the paprika and the white kidney beans and simmer for approximately 15 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped basil / parsley to serve.
I did actually enjoy eating some of the failed banoffee cheesecake off of the kitchen worktop and I scooped the rest into some bowls, saved in the fridge. I wouldn’t normally eat puddings at all during the week. They are a weekend “treat” but as I’m not even indulging in one glass of wine at the moment because of my running, I thought I should have something slightly naughty! 😛
Ben Lomond photographs are just about edited by the way, so Lynne’s first Munro post coming soon!
Anyway let me hear any comments / suggestions you might have with regards to alternative ingredients you’ve tried adding to the base of the tomato and white bean soup here, or any other comments. They are always welcome. 🙂
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