Low-calorie vegetable-based soups can help fill you up and reduce overall calorie intake. Says a study published in the journal ‘Appetite’, liquids in the form of soup can be more satiating than solid foods but the form of soup, and the way in which ingredients are blended, may influence energy intake and satiety. Soups with solid ingredients suspended in a stock base can be a meal in themselves. Fish soups may be close to a stew. Adding arrowroot, cornstarch or rice flour will give a soup body. Arrowroot acts like a hot liquid counterpart of gelatin, giving body to a clear stock. Cornstarch is used in much the same way, diluted in a little cold water and then whisked into the hot soup at the end of cooking.
