Eating low carb? My creamy cauliflower soup is just what you need! It delivers flavour, satiety and dense nutrition! Enjoy alone or top with a generous serving of garlic prawns.
Autumn is back and so is soup season!
Soup is one of the most satiating foods you can eat. It doesn’t matter whether it is pureed or contains chunky pieces of vegetables; soup still retains its beneficial satiating effect.
Eating them as a starter can reduce your hunger, increase fullness, and help you eat a smaller main. Soups are, thus, a useful addition to your diet, particularly if you’re trying to control your weight.
Eating low carb or specifically, keto is all the rave nowadays and for a good reason. The frequencies of diabetes and obesity are spiralling out of control worldwide. Encouragingly, recent scientific evidence shows that carefully-controlled low carb and keto diets can reverse diabetes and promote weight loss.
That said, low carb and keto diets are not suitable for everyone so you must check with your doctor, dietician or nutritionist before embarking on them.
Even if you eat high-carb meals predominantly, low carb or keto meals can still feature in your diet. And now that the days are getting colder, there is no better time to enjoy a low-carb, keto soup!
Three Terrific Nutrients Cauliflower Soup Nourishes You With
Many people worry about eating fish for fear of mercury poisoning. But few people know that those fears are unwarranted if their selenium intakes are adequate.
Prawns are an excellent source of selenium; an 80g portion provides 49% of the recommended daily intake (RDI) for women. Selenium also prevents free-radical damage to your cells and lowers your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and premature ageing. Note that selenium intakes > 2000 μg daily can be toxic.
A serving of my cauliflower soup with prawns provides 59% of the RDI of selenium for women.
You may know that folic acid is crucial during pregnancy because it prevents neural tube defects like spina bifida. But did you also know folic acid is essential for growth, proper functioning of your red blood cells and the health of your cervix? Indeed, women with low folic acid intakes have a higher risk of getting an abnormal Pap (cervical) smear result.
A serving of my cauliflower soup provides 69% of the RDI for women.
Folic acid works with vitamin B12 in many body processes, especially DNA synthesis. Both vitamins also reduce the levels of a compound, homocysteine.
High levels of homocysteine can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis (weak bones). A serving of my cauliflower soup with prawns provides 102% of your RDI of vitamin B12.
Creamy Keto Cauliflower Soup with Garlic Prawns
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
- Category: Soup
- Diet: Diabetic
Ingredients
- 500g cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 1 medium leek, sliced
- 200ml milk (or coconut milk)
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
- 1 tablespoon vegetable seasoning or stock cube
- 160g raw king prawns
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsely, to garnish
Instructions
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Fry the leeks until softend then add the cauliflower and 3/4th of the garlic. Fry for 5 minutes then add vegetable seasoning and around 150ml of water. Cook on a simmer or until the cauliflower is tender.
Stir in the sour cream and milk and allow to heat through, still on a simmer for 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool, then transfer to a food processor and blitz until smooth and creamy. If the soup is too thick, loosen with milk or water. Transfer to into a saucepan to heat through and season with salt if necessary.
For the prawns, heat the butter in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and prawns and sautee until the prawns turn pink.
Divide the soup into serving bowls and top with garlic prawns. Garnish with fresh parsley and a black pepper.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Per serving
- Calories: 356
- Sugar: 15g
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 8.8g
- Carbohydrates: 20.4g
- Fiber: 5.9g
- Protein: 26.9g
References
- Flood, J.E., and Rolls, B.J. (2007) Soup preloads in a variety of forms reduce meal energy intake. Appetite, 49(3), 626-634.
- Zhu, Y., and Hollis, J.H. (2014) Soup consumption is associated with a lower dietary energy density and a better diet quality in US adults. British Journal of Nutrition, 111(8), 1474-80
- Mattes, R. (2005) Soup and satiety. Physiology & Behaviour, 83(5), 739-47.
- International Diabetes Federation. (2019) Diabetes facts & figures. Retrieved from: https://www.idf.org/aboutdiabetes/what-is-diabetes/facts-figures.html. Last accessed: 19 October 2020
- Bolla, A.M., Caretto, A., Laurenzi, A., Scavini, M., and Piemonti, L. (2019) Low-carb and ketogenic diets in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Nutrients, 11(5), 962.
- Choi, A.L., et al. (2008) Selenium as a potential protective factor against mercury developmental neurotoxicity. Environmental research, 107(1), 45-52.
- Tinggi, U. (2008) Selenium: its role as an antioxidant in human health. Environmental health and preventive medicine, 13(2).
- Li, Y., et al. (2020) Folic acid intake and folate status and risk of cervical cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis from 20 independent case-control studies and 4 RCTs. Current developments in nutrition, 4(suppl 2), 330.
