Soups: the middle ground.Who doesn't remember sitting down to a steaming bowl of canned chicken noodle soup Noodle soup refers to a variety of dishes with noodles served in stock and other ingredients. The dish is an Asian staple. Varieties China and Taiwan There are a myriad of noodle soup dishes originating in China, and many of these are eaten in, or adapted in ? Americans love their chicken noodle more than any other canned or dried soup. Tomato and cream of mushroom mushroom, type of basidium fungus characterized by spore-bearing gills on the underside of the umbrella- or cone-shaped cap. The name toadstool is popularly reserved for inedible or poisonous mushrooms, but this classification has no scientific basis. aren't far behind. And you can still buy the same old fatty and salty salt·y adj. salt·i·er, salt·i·est 1. Of, containing, or seasoned with salt. 2. Suggestive of the sea or sailing life. 3. Witty; pungent; earthy: salty humor. versions that will transport you back to your childhood. But now there's a new generation of great-tasting soups that pose less of a threat to your blood pressure. Salt Mines For years, salt has been the Achilles heel Achilles heel Noun a small but fatal weakness [Achilles in Greek mythology was killed by an arrow in his unprotected heel] Achilles heel n → talón m de Aquiles of most prepared soups. Many of Campbell's traditional red-and-white label soups, for example, still supply more than 800 mg of sodium in a modest one-cup serving. That's a third of a day's sodium in a food that may only contain a twentieth of a day's calories. And while it's possible to find low-salt soups, their taste is often unusual, to put it kindly. What about a middle ground? In 1993, the last time we rooted around in the soup aisle, we found only a smattering of cans and packages with enough taste to carry off their lower salt levels (300 to 500 mg per cup). Now there are dozens. It's not just luck. In 1994, the Food and Drug Administration decided that to be labeled "healthy," foods can't contain more than 480 mg of sodium per serving. That's 20 percent of the Daily Value. (Meal-type foods like frozen dinners can have more.) Presto. Healthy Not By Choice To keep the "healthy" in their names, brands like Healthy Choice and Campbell's Healthy Request had to keep the sodium down. And--to maintain sales--they had to keep the flavor up. So if you don't want a good-tasting soup at the expense of slowly rising blood pressure, just use the word "healthy" as a shortcut (1) In Windows, a shortcut is an icon that points to a program or data file. Shortcuts can be placed on the desktop or stored in other folders, and double clicking a shortcut is the same as double clicking the original file. . Unfortunately, you can't take a shortcut with Progresso's 99%, Fat Free soups. The sodium can run anywhere from 440 to 930 mg per cup, so you've got to stand in the aisle and check each "Nutrition Facts" label. The good news is that many mid-salt soups get their richer flavor from a richer supply of real food, not salty water. That means you get a healthier soup, with more beans, pasta, or vegetables--and the fiber, vitamins, and minerals they bring. The bad news is that for some categories, like vegetable and tomato, it's still tough to find a good-tasting mid-salt soup. Here are the best-tasting soups we found, by category. We tasted most Best Bites (no more than three grams of fat and 300 mg of sodium per serving, plus at least ten percent of the Daily Value for two or more of the following nutrients: fiber, vitamin A vitamin A also called retinol Fat-soluble alcohol, most abundant in fatty fish and especially in fish-liver oils. It is not found in plants, but many vegetables and fruits contain beta-carotene (see , vitamin iron, or calcium). We also sampled most Honorable Mentions (they could have up to 500 mg of sodium). * Bean. Bean (and lentil lentil, leguminous Old World annual plant (Lens culinaris) with whitish or pale blue flowers. Its pods contain two greenish-brown or dark-colored seeds, also called lentils, which when fully ripe are ground into meal or used in soups and stews. and split pea split pea Noun a pea dried and split and used in soups or as a vegetable ) soups are hard to beat. They've got fiber, protein, iron, and sometimes calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C vitamin C or ascorbic acid Water-soluble organic compound important in animal metabolism. Most animals produce it in their bodies, but humans, other primates, and guinea pigs need it in the diet to prevent scurvy. . Meat-eaters should love Campbell's Healthy Request Bean with Ham & Bacon or Healthy Choice Bean and Ham. If ham isn't your thing, head for Fantastic Foods Jumpin' Black Bean black bean see castanospermum australe, erythrophleumchlorostachys. or Cha-Cha Chili (language) CHILI - D.L. Abt. A language for systems programming, based on ALGOL 60 with extensions for structures and type declarations. ["CHILI, An Algorithmic Language for Systems Programming", CHI-1014, Chi Corp, Sep 1975] . Or try Shari's Organic thick and hearty Mexican Bean Burrito. Go for Baxters 99% Fat Free Italian Bean & Pasta if you prefer your beans in a thinner broth broth liquid media for culturing microorganisms. cooked meat broth a medium useful for culturing anaerobic bacteria. enrichment broth one modified to permit growth by selected bacteria. . * Chicken & Turkey. Every Healthy Choice or Campbell's Healthy Request chicken (or turkey) soup we tasted was delicious. Some, like Healthy Choice Hearty Chicken and Healthy Request Hearty Chicken Noodle, were loaded with chicken, vegetables, noodles noo·dle 1 n. A narrow, ribbonlike strip of dried dough, usually made of flour, eggs, and water. [German Nudel. ...and flavor. They put Campbell's classic red-and-white label salty Chicken Noodle to shame. Health Valley's (vegetarian) dried Fat-Free! Healthy Chicken Flavored Noodles with Vegetables is awfully close to your grandmother's chicken soup chicken soup Chicken broth Folk medicine Jewish penicillin A fowl broth with a long tradition as a home remedy for URIs, which may be a nasal decongestant, inhibit growth of pneumococci in vitro, and stimulate immune responsiveness in WBCs Mainstream medicine A . Ditto for Dr. McDougall's delicious (vegetarian) Baked--Not Fried Chicken Fried chicken is chicken which is dipped in a breading mixture and then deep fried, pan fried or pressure fried. The breading seals in the juices but also absorbs the fat of the fryer, which is sometimes seen as unhealthy. Flavor Ramen ra·men n. 1. A Japanese dish of noodles in broth, often garnished with small pieces of meat and vegetables. 2. A thin white noodle served in this dish. Noodles in a cup. Though ramen soups look harmless, most are salty and loaded with artery-clogging palm oil. To unearth one with just one gram of fat that's low enough in sodium for an "Honorable Mention" is a real find. * Lentil. Out of sandwich ideas? Try Progresso 99% Fat Free or Healthy Choice Lentil soup Noun 1. lentil soup - made of stock and lentils with onions carrots and celery soup - liquid food especially of meat or fish or vegetable stock often containing pieces of solid food and whole-grain crackers or rolls for lunch. Shari's Organic Spicy French Green Lentil is for those who prefer exotic spices. Unfortunately, Health Valley's lentil soups are for those who prefer "off" flavors. As for dried soups, if you like Indian spicing, pick up Fantastic Foods Couscous cous·cous n. 1. A pasta of North African origin made of crushed and steamed semolina. 2. A North African dish consisting of pasta steamed with a meat and vegetable stew. with Lentils or Safeway Enlighten en·light·en tr.v. en·light·ened, en·light·en·ing, en·light·ens 1. To give spiritual or intellectual insight to: Couscous Lentil. * Split Pea. Campbell's Healthy Request Split Pea with Ham and Healthy Choice Split Pea and Ham both had a satisfying smoky Smoky, river, c.250 mi (400 km) long, rising in Jasper National Park, W Alta., Canada, and flowing generally NE to the Peace River. It receives the Wapiti and Little Smoky rivers. It was explored (1792) by Alexander Mackenzie. flavor. Down on ham? Then try dried soups like Health Valley Fat-Free! Healthy Split Pea & Carrots, Fantastic Foods Split Pea, or Dr. McDougall's Split Pea with Barley. * Tomato. If you love tomato soup Tomato soup is a soup made from tomatoes. It is commonly used as an ingredient in more complex dishes, and, unlike most savory soups, it may be served either hot or cold. It can be made from chunks of tomato or with only a puree. , scour scour, scours 1. the chemical and physical cleaning of fleece wool. 2. diarrhea. dietetic scour see dietary diarrhea. peat scour see secondary nutritional copper deficiency. the health food stores for Shari's Organic Cream of Tomato. The blend of tomato puree tomato puree n → puré m de tomate , onions, and spices is instant comfort on a cold day. Shari's Tomato with Roasted Garlic is also delicious. In fact, Shari's were the only good-tasting tomato soups to meet our criteria. * Vegetable. Canned lower-salt vegetable soups frequently taste like the can they come in. Ditto for minestrones. But not Campbell's Healthy Request Hearty Vegetable Beef and Healthy Choice Vegetable Beef. They tasted like an old-fashioned beef stew-but with less than three grams of fat per cup. Campbell's Healthy Request Southwestern Vegetable had a nice kick to it, thanks to the chili peppers and spices. And Fantastic Foods dried Minestrone tasted almost homemade home·made adj. 1. Made or prepared in the home: homemade pie. 2. Made by oneself. 3. Crudely or simply made. Adj. 1. . * Miscellaneous. Unlike most French onion soups French onion soup is an onion and beef broth based soup traditionally served with croutons and cheese as toppings. Although ancient in origin, this dish underwent a resurgence of popularity in the 1960s due to the growth of French cooking in the United States. , Baxter's 99% Fat Free Onion has ten percent of a day's worth of iron (from concentrated beef bouillon Bouillon, town (1991 pop. 5,468), Luxembourg prov., SE Belgium, in the Ardennes on the Semois River, near the French border. It is a small manufacturing and tourist center. ) and fiber (from the onions). It's also got 100 percent of a day's worth of onion soup flavor. Progresso 99% Fat Free Beef Barley is a nice variation on beef vegetable. With savory savory, name for any plant of the genus Satureja, aromatic herbs and subshrubs of the family Labiatae (mint family). Commonly cultivated as border ornamentals or potherbs are two species of the Mediterranean region and surrounding areas: summer savory (S. beef stock Noun 1. beef stock - a stock made with beef beef broth broth, stock - liquid in which meat and vegetables are simmered; used as a basis for e.g. soups or sauces; "she made gravy with a base of beef stock" , carrots, tomatoes, and other vegetables, you won't notice that some of the salt is gone. And Healthy Choice Chili Beef tastes just like a spicy-but-not-too-hot chili should. Health Valley dried Fat-Free! Healthy Pasta Italiano features al dente al den·te adj. Cooked enough to be firm but not soft: pasta al dente. [Italian : al, to the + dente, tooth. shells, red beans Red bean can mean:
The information for this article was compiled by Ingrid Van Tuinen and Wendy Meltzer. RELATED ARTICLE: Souper Duper dupe n. 1. An easily deceived person. 2. A person who functions as the tool of another person or power. tr.v. duped, dup·ing, dupes To deceive (an unwary person). See Synonyms at deceive. "Best Bites" have no more than three grams of fat and 300 milligrams of sodium in a one-cup (8-oz.) serving (for multiple-serving containers) or for the whole package or can (for single-serving containers). If you eat more than half a multiple-serving can, don't forget to increase the numbers. Best Bites also contain at least ten percent of the Daily Value for at least two of the following: vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, or fiber. "Honorable Mentions" meet the same criteria, except that sodium can hit 500 mg. Products are ranked from least to most sodium.
Soup
Multi-Serving Soups (8 oz.) Calories Sodium Fiber
(mg) (g)
* Health Valley Organic(1) 90 150 7
* Taste Adventure Low Fat Minestrone 140 210 8
* Health Valley Fat-Free(1) 90 230 8
* Pritikin Lentil or Split Pea(2) 160 290 7
* Health Valley Fat-Free! Healthy
Pass(3) 110 290 4
* Pritikin Hearty Vegetable,
Minestrone, or Vegetarian 90 290 3
Vegetable(2)
[check] Arrowhead Mills Red Lentil 100 320 3
[check] Taste Adventure Low Fat Navy
Bean 160 390 9
[check] Healthy Choice Garden
Vegetable, Minestrone, or Tomato
Garden(2) 110 400 3
[check] Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle,
Chicken with Rice, Hearty Chicken, or
Turkey with White & Wild Rice(2) 120 410 1
[check] Baxters 99% Fat Free
Mediterranean Tomato or Onion(2) 70 420 3
[check] Shari's Organic(4) 130 420 3
[check] Healthy Choice Country
Vegetable. Split Pea and Ham, or
Vegetable Beef(2) 130 420 2
[check] Healthy Choice Bean and Ham,
Chili Beef, or Lentil(2) 160 430 6
[check] Baxters 99% Fat Free Country
Garden, Italian Bean & Pass, or
Minestrone(2) 80 430 4
[check] Mayacamas Black Bean or Garden
Pea, mix(2) 60 450 3
Healthy Choice Cream of Mushroom 80 450 1
[check] Healthy Choice Beef & Potato 120 450 0
[check] Progresso 99% Fat Free Beef
Barley or Lentil(2) 140 460 5
[check] Campbell's Healthy Request
Bean with Ham & Bacon 150 480 7
[check] Campbell's Healthy Request
Southwestern Vegetable or Split Pea
with Ham(2) 160 480 5
[check] Hain Healthy Naturals(1) 120 480 4
[check] Campbell's Healthy Hearty
Country Vegetable, Hearty Minestrone,
Hearty Vegetable Beef, or Tomato
Vegetable(2) 120 480 3
[check] Hain Home Style Naturals
Chunky Tomato or Minestrone(2) 120 480 3
[check] Campbell's Health Request
Hearty Chicken Noodle of Zesty Penne
& Vegetables, or Ceative Chef
Tomato(2) 120 480 2
Health Choice New England Clam Chowder 120 480 2
[check] Campbell's Healthy Request
Chicken with Rice 60 480 1
Campebell's Healthy Request New
England Clam Chowder 120 480 1
Campbell's Healthy Request Chicken
Noodle,Cream of Chicken, or
Cream of Mushroom(2) 70 480 0
[check] Taste Adventure Low Fat
Golden Pea or Sweet Corn Chowder(2) 210 490 5
Westbrae Natueal Fat Free(3) 90 580 7
Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion, mix 20 610 0
Progresso 99% Fat Free Chicken Noodle 90 620 1
Campbell's Baked 98% Fat Free Ramen,
Chicken (package, not cup) 140 720 1
Lipton Noodle with Chicken Broth Soup Mix 60 720 0
Campbell's Tomato 100 730 2
Knorr Vegetable, mix 30 730 1
Progresso Lentil 140 750 7
Maruchan Ramen, Chicken(*) 190 780 1
Campbell's 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom 70 830 0
Campbell's Cream of Mushroom(*) 110 870 1
Campbell's Cream of Chicken(*) 130 890 1
Nissin Top Ramen, Chicken(*) 190 910 1
Campbell's Vegetable 80 920 2
Progresso Minestrone 120 960 5
Campbell's 98% Fat Free New England
Clam Chowder (made with 2% fat milk) 150 970 1
Campbell's Chicken Noodle 70 980 1
Campbell's French Onion 70 980 1
Knorr French Onion, mix 45 980 0
Progresso New England Clam Chowder(*) 200 1,050 2
Campbell's Cream of Mushroom (jar)(*) 260 1,130 1
Soup Cups & Single-Serving Soups
* Tabatchnick No Salt Added(3) 120 80 4
Campbell's Low Sodium Chicken with
Noodles(*) 170 120 2
* Pritkin(3) 140 140 5
[check] Mrs. Manischewitz Black Bean 200 320 5
[check] Health Valley Fat-Free! Healthy
Soup in a Cup(3) 220 380 6
[check] Casbah Teapot Garden Couscous
or Santa Fe Rice & Beans(2) 200 440 8
[check] Casbah Teapot Hearty Lentil or
Vegetarian Chill(2) 190 440 7
[check] Nile Spice Lentil, Sweet Corn
Chowder, or Tomato Herb(2) 140 440 3
[check] Casbah Teapot Minestroni or
Split Pea(2) 220 450 10
[check] Casbah Teapot Chicken Noodle 130 450 1
[check] Safeway Enlighten Black Bean or
Couscou Lentil(2) 190 460 12
[check] Safeway Enlighten Tex-Mex Beans
& Rice or Tomato Basil Pasta(2) 170 460 5
[check] Fantastic Foods Couscous with
Lentils, Jumpin' Black Bean, Split Pea,
or Vegetable Barley(2) 200 470 7
[check] Fantastic Foods Cha-Cha Chili,
Country Lentil, or Five Bean(2) 230 480 12
[check] Dr. McDougall's Split Pea with
Barley 200 480 9
[check] Dr. McDougall's Minestrone &
Pasta or Tortilla Soup with Baked
Chip(2) 180 480 5
[check] Dr. MrDougal's Baked-Not
Fried Ramen Noodles(3) 140 480 2
[check] Fantastic Foods Creamy Broccoli
& Cheddar, Minestrone, Vegetable Curry
Ramen Noodles, or Vegetable Tomato
Ramen Noodles(2) 140 490 3
Lipton Cup-a-Soup, Tomato 100 510 1
Lipton Cup-a-Soup, Chicken Noodle 50 540 0
Spice Hunter(3) 140 640 1
Knorr Chicken Vegetable 120 860 1
Knorr Potato Leek 130 920 1
(*) Best Bite. [check] Honorable Mention. (*) contains at least five grams of fat. (1) line average excluding broths. (2) average for the flavors listed. (3) average for the entire line. (4) average for all flavors except Vegetarian French Onion. The use of information from this article for commercial purposes is strickly prohibited without written permission from CSPI CSPI Center for Science in the Public Interest CSPI Corporate Service Price Index CSPI Cumulative Schedule Performance Index . Source: Manufacturers. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion