Soup: The Miracle Food Which Makes Diets Work.

Easy to make, cheap, versatile and healthy, it’s no wonder soup has been eaten for thousands of years. This popular dish has undergone a revival as celebrities including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Melissa Joan Hart and Liz Hurley revealing soup as their secret to keeping trim.

They're simple to make at home. Spend an afternoon cooking up a batch of soup, freeze individual portions and you’ll have a quick, filling, tasty lunch every day of the week. Take soup to work in a thermos, and there’s no need to ruin diets with high-calorie, high-salt and high-fat snack foods.

Although you can make a soup out of almost anything, if you’re watching your weight remember to make sure the soups are based on vegetables and water, avoiding dishes which rely on cream and meat.

Here are three great recipes to start off your soup obsession.

Carrot and Coriander Soup:

This is a great soup for making ahead and freezing and is incredibly cheap to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion (chopped)
• 2 small potatoes (chopped)
• 1lb carrots (chopped)
• 4 cups of chicken stock
• 3 tsp. ground coriander

Method:

1. Soften the onion in a pan with a little oil, add the potato and cook for a few minutes before adding the carrot. Fry for 3-4 minutes.
2. Sprinkle the ground coriander over the vegetables then cover the pan, lower the heat and cook for a further 10 minutes.
3. Add the stock, bring to the boil and then cover and simmer for a further 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
4. Blitz the soup in a food processor or with a hand blender until smooth

Sweet Potato & Chickpea Soup

This is another great warming soup which can be made spicier by adding a dash of Tabasco sauce just before serving.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 sweet potato or yam cut into small cubes
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 3 cups of vegetable stock
• 8oz can of chickpeas

Method:

1. Soften the onion in 1 tbsp. of oil for 3 minutes. Add the sliced garlic cloves and cook for a further 3 minutes.
2. Stir in the spices and cook for 1 minute before adding the sweet potato (or yams), stir and cook for a couple of minutes
3. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Cook for 10 minutes until the potato is tender.
4. Finally add the drained chickpeas. Heat through before whizzing until smooth.

Thai Sweetcorn Soup

Although this soup won’t freeze, it takes minutes to make for a fresh lunch from basic ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 2 spring onions (finely sliced)
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 cups of chicken stock
• 15oz can of creamed corn
• 1 cup of cooked prawns
• Pinch of chilli flakes

Method:

1. Using a tablespoon of oil, soften the onion in a large pan.
2. Add the stock, sweetcorn, prawns and chilli flakes and bring to the boil and season before serving.