Now more than ever maintaining a healthy weight is important. The
occurrence of Type II diabetes is on the rise not only for adults and
teenagers, but now doctors are starting to see it in children as young
as five years old.
It is not always easy to get your family to eat their vegetables, but
soup seems to be a popular family meal. Weight Watchers Zero Points
soup recipe has been around a very long time and it is a very tasty way
to get your sneak vegetables into lunch or dinner for the kids as well
as the adults.
There are many variations of the Zero Points soup, but the basics
include garlic, onion, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli and
vegetable broth. You can change up any of the ingredients. Use tomato
juice rather than vegetable broth. Or combine half vegetable broth with
tomato juice. This may add a few calories to the soup, but not much. If
possible use low sodium versions of the broth and juice.
Other vegetables that are great for the Weight Watchers zero points
soup are kale, collard greens – swap those out for the more expensive
Swiss chard, yellow squash, green beans, wax beans, tomatoes and even
eggplant. If you like a little spice use some jalapeno pepper in the
soup. Save time by using frozen vegetables instead of fresh ones –
though the texture of the soup might change a bit. You can also buy
small amounts of pre-cut vegetables from your supermarket’s salad bar.
You can also change the spices and herbs – tailor them to your
family’s tastes. Keep in mind – this recipe makes a lot of soup – feel
free to half the recipe. It will keep in the fridge for at least one
week and is easily frozen.
The great part of this soup is that you can eat it as snack or before
a meal to help fill you up and help you with portion control. Or you
can serve it as lunch or dinner – add some protein like chicken or fish
to the soup or serve the soup with additional veggies – sweet potatoes
are delicious and a leafy green salad drizzled with a little olive oil
and red wine vinegar.
Zero points vegetable soup recipe
Ingredients for zero points vegetable soup
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium onion, diced – approximately 1 cup
- 2 large carrots, diced – approximately 1½ cups
- 1 large green, red, yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded, cored and diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 2 zucchini, diced – approximately 2 pounds
- 2 cups green cabbage, shredded – approximately 1 medium head
- 2 cups Swiss chard, chopped
- 2 cups cauliflower, cut into small florets – approximately ½ large head
- 2 cups broccoli, cut into small florets – approximately 2 medium broccoli crowns
- 2 tsp. thyme, fresh, chopped
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 2 Tbsp. parsley, or chives, fresh, chopped
- ½ tsp. salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp. black pepper, or to taste
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice – optional
How to make zero point vegetable soup:
- Put garlic, vegetables, thyme and broth into a large soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer, partly covered, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in parsley or chives; season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
- Simmer on uncovered on low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
- Yields: about twelve 1-cup servings