Restaurant soups

How do you know when you go to a restaurant what soups are reasonably
low in carbs? I'm not talking about whether they contain potatoes or
beans or pasta, but rather I'm referring to the stock. Can I assume
that a thin soup will be lower in carbs that a thick one, and that thick
soups must have alot of cornstarch in them? What about cream soups? Is
ordering soup in a restaurant basically a crap shoot, with no real way
of knowing without asking the chef how high or low the carb count might
be? I don't cook much at home, so I know very little about soup stock.
I seem to remember that Atkins recommends only clear broth, but in the
maintenance phase, it would be nice to know what kind of other soups are
at least relatively low in carbs. Can I assume that it mainly comes
down to a matter of whether the stock is thick or thin?

Kip

I hate to say it, but I think restaurant soups are to be avoided, unless you're
at a place where the chef doesn't mind divulging ingredients. It's a crap
shoot, as you pointed out. And it's not only the carbs, but they're usually
extremely high in sodium. I thought I read that Ruby Tuesday was coming out
with a soup for their LC menu.

Kip Baranoff wrote:

How do you know when you go to a restaurant what soups are reasonably
low in carbs?

You ask what's in them.

I'm not talking about whether they contain potatoes or
beans or pasta, but rather I'm referring to the stock. Can I assume
that a thin soup will be lower in carbs that a thick one, and that thick
soups must have alot of cornstarch in them?

Generally, a thin soup will have fewer carbs, but that isn't absolute.

Soups can be thickened with any of several different ingredients
including flour, different starches (corn, potato, tapioca, etc.),
purees (cauliflower, broccoli, turnip, carrot, etc.)

What about cream soups? Is
ordering soup in a restaurant basically a crap shoot, with no real way
of knowing without asking the chef how high or low the carb count might
be?

What's wrong with doing that?

I don't cook much at home, so I know very little about soup stock.

Stock is a defatted broth, unthickened.

I seem to remember that Atkins recommends only clear broth, but in the
maintenance phase, it would be nice to know what kind of other soups are
at least relatively low in carbs. Can I assume that it mainly comes
down to a matter of whether the stock is thick or thin?

No, you can't. In compound soups (ones with many ingredients), the
additional ingredients will need to be factored in. If you're going to
be doing this, you need to read a bit and learn some self-protection
information.

Pastorio

We have no way of knowing if their soups are made with real cream or only
milk,
thick or thin broths... and the management may not even know if the soup
comes
in a can......
in maintenance its of little harm if the rest of your day/week is on target,
but for phase 1-2 I would avoid restaurant soups and go for the salad with
Ranch instead

Kip Baranoff wrote in
:

How do you know when you go to a restaurant what soups are reasonably
low in carbs? I'm not talking about whether they contain potatoes or
beans or pasta, but rather I'm referring to the stock. Can I assume
that a thin soup will be lower in carbs that a thick one, and that thick
soups must have alot of cornstarch in them? What about cream soups? Is
ordering soup in a restaurant basically a crap shoot, with no real way
of knowing without asking the chef how high or low the carb count might
be? I don't cook much at home, so I know very little about soup stock.
I seem to remember that Atkins recommends only clear broth, but in the
maintenance phase, it would be nice to know what kind of other soups are
at least relatively low in carbs. Can I assume that it mainly comes
down to a matter of whether the stock is thick or thin?


I was interested in that, so I went and googled recipes for my favorite
souup, Greek egg-lemon soup. It's a thick, creamy-looking soup. Turns out
it has no carbs in it except for the added pasta or rice.

So at least in this case, thick or thin isn't the determining factor.

Chakolate

--
Hear and you forget; see and you remember; do and you understand.
--Confucius

"Beemie" wrote in
gy.com:

We have no way of knowing if their soups are made with real cream or
only milk,
thick or thin broths... and the management may not even know if the
soup comes
in a can......
in maintenance its of little harm if the rest of your day/week is on
target, but for phase 1-2 I would avoid restaurant soups and go for
the salad with Ranch instead

I've been noticing lately that salad dressings have plenty of carbs, but
Ranch doesn't. It's usually only 1 gram per serving. Is that generally
true, or have I just been finding particularly low-carb ones?

Is there any other salad dressing that you can generally regard as safe?
My personal favorite is creamy garlic.

Chakolate


--
Hear and you forget; see and you remember; do and you understand.
--Confucius

"Kip Baranoff" wrote in message...

How do you know when you go to a restaurant what soups are reasonably
low in carbs?

Ask for a "nutritional guide" or whatever it's called... If they don't have
one, you _can't_ be sure.


I'm not talking about whether they contain potatoes or
beans or pasta, but rather I'm referring to the stock. Can I assume
that a thin soup will be lower in carbs that a thick one, and that thick
soups must have alot of cornstarch in them?

It's generally a safe assumption that a clear soup won't have the extra
carbs that a thickened soup would gain from the use of thickeners, but that
doesn't make a soup "low carb". Restaurants generally won't use cornstarch
to thicken soups (except Chinese - excessive use of cornstarch there). Most
restaurants would use flour, it's much more stable.


What about cream soups? Is
ordering soup in a restaurant basically a crap shoot, with no real way
of knowing without asking the chef how high or low the carb count might
be?

It depends how they made the soup. A simple cream-reduction will be much
lower in carbs than a cream soup made in the "old-fashioned way" - a
starch-thickened sauce (based on cream or a stock) with cream added.
(Assuming all other things are equal.)


I don't cook much at home, so I know very little about soup stock.
I seem to remember that Atkins recommends only clear broth, but in the
maintenance phase, it would be nice to know what kind of other soups are
at least relatively low in carbs. Can I assume that it mainly comes
down to a matter of whether the stock is thick or thin?

No. That isn't an assumption you can make.


--
Bryan
282/247/230

LC since Oct. 26/03





Kip

"Bob Pastorio" wrote in message...
Kip Baranoff wrote:

snipped

I don't cook much at home, so I know very little about soup stock.

Stock is a defatted broth, unthickened.

Wrong.

Stock is made primarily from bones, while broth is made primarily from meat.

I would drink broth straight, but have you ever had a properly made stock?
Nothing much there in the way of flavour - until you concentrate it - and
the stickiness from the gelatin leaves you with a nasty mouth-feel.


--
Bryan
282/247/230

LC since Oct. 26/03

I got some good ones from NetGrocer, Cardini brand, but Netgrocer changed
owners in November and don't have the same stock. The one I particularly
liked had olives in it. I Froogled Cardini and found these two that looks
interesting with only 1 carb.

http://www.shopnatural.com/Merchant2...urce=f roogle

http://www.shopnatural.com/Merchant2...urce=f roogle

Here's another page with Cardini on it:

http://www.shopnatural.com/Merchant2...ry_Code=B30150

In .4,
Chakolate stated
| Kip Baranoff wrote in
| :
|
|| How do you know when you go to a restaurant what soups are reasonably
|| low in carbs? I'm not talking about whether they contain potatoes or
|| beans or pasta, but rather I'm referring to the stock. Can I assume
|| that a thin soup will be lower in carbs that a thick one, and that
|| thick soups must have alot of cornstarch in them? What about cream
|| soups? Is ordering soup in a restaurant basically a crap shoot,
|| with no real way of knowing without asking the chef how high or low
|| the carb count might be? I don't cook much at home, so I know very
|| little about soup stock. I seem to remember that Atkins recommends
|| only clear broth, but in the maintenance phase, it would be nice to
|| know what kind of other soups are at least relatively low in carbs.
|| Can I assume that it mainly comes down to a matter of whether the
|| stock is thick or thin?
|
|
| I was interested in that, so I went and googled recipes for my
| favorite souup, Greek egg-lemon soup. It's a thick, creamy-looking
| soup. Turns out it has no carbs in it except for the added pasta or
| rice.
|
| So at least in this case, thick or thin isn't the determining factor.
|
| Chakolate

"FOB" wrote in
gy.com:

I got some good ones from NetGrocer, Cardini brand, but Netgrocer
changed owners in November and don't have the same stock. The one I
particularly liked had olives in it. I Froogled Cardini and found
these two that looks interesting with only 1 carb.

http://www.shopnatural.com/Merchant2...PROD&Product_C
ode=722&source=froogle

http://www.shopnatural.com/Merchant2...PROD&Product_C
ode=688&source=froogle

Here's another page with Cardini on it:

http://www.shopnatural.com/Merchant2...CTGY&Category_
Code=B30150

These look pretty good, and not a bad price, either. Thanks.

Chakolate



--

Started low-carbing 8-26-03
242/200/150
As of Christmas Day, 2003, BMI under 30.