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"    Last May, Penn State released a study that said eating a small bowl of low-cal soup before a meal will reduce your calorie intake by 20 percent. A couple weeks ago, Nourit Houminer, a nutritionist at Nutrition Energy, a New-York based company which specializes in sports performance, weight loss or wellness and disease prevention, said the same. So, last week, I tried my hand at vegetable soup, which lasted until today, about 3 hours ago. I filled a large soup pot with carrots, parsnips, parsley, celery, shitake mushrooms (currently among those being researched for their potential anti-cancer, anti-viral, or immunity-enhancing properties), zucchini, squash, white onion and garlic, then enough water to cover the veggies. (When cooking soup with a water broth, opposed to chicken or veggie stock, it&amp;#039;s best to use less than more water so the flavor of the veggies stands out.) Before I added beans or meat to the ingredient list, which would have made the soup more of a meal opposed to a pre-meal (though I&amp;#039;m sure a bit more flavorful), I wanted to see how the soup turned out when only using non-starchy veggies. How long would I be able to tolerate this, is it satisfying, is it gross?  The answers to those questions turned out to be, about 3 days, quite, and then, eventually but not totally. After I turned the flame up to medium-high, seasoned as desired (which means too much salt and pepper), I added a few spoonfuls of brown sauce (from the day before&amp;#039;s leftover chinese), though I could have also used a few tablespoons of soy sauce or even vegetable stock to add flavor as well. I let the soup cook for a little over 45 minutes, but I should have let the soup boil for about 4 minutes (I didn&amp;#039;t account for the time it took to reach boiling point).  The first few bowls, seasoned with more salt and pepper and a sprinkle of parmesan, were rather enjoyable, and I especially enjoyed pairing a smaller bowl of soup with my lunches at work, like a salad or turkey sandwich. Proving the Soup Theory right, the three times I coupled my lunch with it, I was only about half way through my meal when I realized I started slowing down and began losing interest. The Penn State study also pointed out that there theory was proven effective regardless of the soup&amp;#039;s form: pureed, chunky or separate broth and ingredients. Good news for me. Nest time, I think I&amp;#039;ll go with purreed. I&amp;#039;ve been dreaming of the Chilled English Pea and Pancetta Soup (picture above) that I tried back in April at the Hilton in Fort Lauderdale. I would, when testing this theory, be careful of soups that are made with cream, potatoes or anything that could potentially push a soup over 150 calories per serving. \u2013Brynn Mannino What are your favorite low-cal soup recipes? Tell us in Comments.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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