Argent - Soupologie 5 a day Soups Your 5 a day in one bowl

We all know we should be eating more fruit and vegetables. One of the most common pieces of advice is that we should aim to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Despite the fact that most of us know we should eat more healthily, we often fall short. A couple of years ago, we (a family team with a love for creating plant-based recipes) decided to develop a range of soups, with each one providing all of the recommended 5 a day. What could be better than eating a pot of soup and knowing that, with almost no effort, youve hit your 5 a day goal?

While creating those soups, we discovered that the regulations surrounding 5 a day are not exactly straightforward. As a result, it took us over a year to develop the range, and we learned many startling food and nutritional facts along the way. All the WHO rules and regulations made sense once we saw the unprecedented quantity of vitamins and minerals we can get from eating this wide variety of fruits and vegetables every day.

People dont think twice about popping a multivitamin pill or taking supplements on a daily basis to rectify potential deficiencies in their diets. However, the nutritional benefits of eating the correct food in the first place can considerably reduce the need for these supplements. Weve included a nutritional breakdown for every recipe so that you can see for yourselves just how super-charged with goodness each one is!

Its easy to fall into the trap of viewing healthy food as tasteless and boring, while seeing unhealthy food as a guilty pleasure. Thats why, in this book, we have tried to create recipes that have all the benefits of healthy eating without compromising on flavour. We had a lot of fun developing these delicious and nutritious soups and meals, and were sure youll love making and eating them! We hope that by pouring everything weve learned into exciting recipes, and throwing in some surprising foodie facts, youll easily smash your 5 a day and enjoy yourselves at the same time.

Anastasia & the Soupologie team

The majority of us are not even coming close to the 5 a day target. Although most people know about the 5 a day guidelines and understand that they need to be eating more fruit and vegetables, very few people are aware of what the exact recommendations are.

The basic guidelines are as follows:

80g (2oz) fresh or frozen whole fruits and vegetables = 1 portion
Doubling up on one type of fruit or vegetable, or even two types from the same plant family, will still only count as a single portion. This is because WHO guidelines state that variety is important, and that we need to consume a diverse selection of fruits and vegetables. Work on the basis that variety is the spice of life. If you happen to have 80g (2oz) leeks and 80g (2oz) onions in one dish, that will only count as having had one portion of your 5 a day, as leeks and onions both come from the Allium genus of vegetables, which also includes garlic.

30g (1oz) dried fruit, such as apricots, prunes or sultanas = 1 portion
Ideally you should only have one portion of dried fruit a day due to its high sugar content.

40g (1oz) vegetable concentrate or 20g (oz) double concentrate = 1 portion

150ml ( pint) fruit juice or vegetable juice = 1 portion
As with the 80g (2oz) portion guidelines, doubling up the amount of juice or even having a portion of fruit juice and a portion of vegetable juice will still only count as one portion. Juicing might seem like a quick fix to help you reach your 5 a day, but when fruits and vegetables are blitzed into juice, a lot of the fabulous fibre (which is needed to help slow down sugar absorption in our blood) is extracted and tossed aside in the juicing process. We should also be wary of shop-bought juices with added sugars and sweeteners. Again, only 150ml ( pint) counts, and often shop-bought juices come in larger bottles. This means that we fill ourselves with a lot of sugary juice rather than the whole fruit, missing out on the pulp and fibre.

80g (2oz) canned fruit or vegetables = 1 portion
When opting for canned goods, it is best to pick foods in their natural juice, or water, preferably with no added sugar or salt.

80g (2oz) beans or pulses = 1 portion
This includes soya beans. Only one portion of beans or pulses counts towards your 5 a day. If you eat 80g (2oz) beans and 80g (2oz) pulses, that will count as one portion.

What doesnt count towards your 5 a day?

Seeds