I finally made the pumpkin bisque I’ve been dying to try… but only to find out it was kind of a letdown. This recipe is from the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook. I don’t really know why it’s labeled a bisque instead of a soup because it has no cream in it, but all the same it is low-fat, low-calorie and high fiber. It’s also low-flavor truth be told.
The idea behind the flat-belly diet is that MUFAs (monosaturated fatty acids) decrease belly fat. These foods include avocado, nuts, olives, dark chocolate and olive oil. In this recipe the pumpkin seeds (which I actually cut out of my version because of the price) and the olive oil are the MUFAS. Personally, I think this diet is kind of a joke because all of the recipes are full of fat, but I’m sure it works for some people.
This soup has 210 calories, 5 grams of fat and 10 grams of fiber per serving (2 cups). The recipe below makes four servings.
Pumpkin Bisque
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon oregano
4 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup chopped roasted unsalted pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1. Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, pepper, potato, garlic and oregano. Cook for 5 minutes or until onions are softened. Add broth, pumpkin, salt and pepper. Simmer about 10 minutes until potato is soft
2. Transfer soup to food processor. Process until smooth
3. Return to pot, add water to thin if necessary
4. Ladle into four bowls and top with 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
Here are the veggies getting soft in the pot:
The soup after I added the broth but before putting it in the food processor:
The finished product!!
After adding the balsamic vinegar to the mix the soup tasted much better, and the croutons instead of the pumpkin seeds were a great final touch. I usually don’t blog about recipes gone wrong, but this recipe just needs a little help. Next time I would add extra pumpkin and some fat-free half and half. I think that would take this recipe from just OK to Fabulous!!
Have you had any recipe disasters lately? Tell me about them! Leave a comment!
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