Tacos and . . . soup?

I remember learning, in WW circles, that it is good to eat a salad or soup before every meal so that you are less hungry for the (usually more fattening) main dishes. The idea never appealed to me, though: I hadn't yet learned to make salads interesting without making them high in fat and calories, and the soups that came to mind were the ones like the awful WW no-point veggie soup with cabbage in it. Bleh--no thank you.

I've been revisiting the idea lately, though, because I love a good salad now, and if you shop at Whole Foods (or similar stores), you can get ready-made, decently low-calorie soups that are really worth eating--like the refrigerated pumpkin soup the store is currently selling that is 110 calories for a cup. Delicious.

In Southwestern food, it is common to serve pumpkin in or alongside dishes that contain corn and black beans, so I've taken to doing the same thing. Pumpkin foods can be made savory, but as mildly sweet foods, they add a nice foil to saltier Southwestern/Tex-Mex fare. Last night, I made veggie tacos (black beans, guacamole, salsa, sprouted cilantro--hey, no cheese!) with pumpkin soup on the side.



With this meal, I was able to enjoy a crunchy, delicious blue-corn taco and a side of tasty, flavorful soup for a moderate calorie count--instead of eating three tacos as I would be tempted to do if they were our only food offering for the evening.