365 (Whole Foods) Creamy Sweet Corn Soup

200 calories, 840 mg sodium, 4 g fiber

Yummy! Basic, straight-forward, and yummy. I over-peppered it, but it was still good. Not a lot of fiber, but still enticing enough to make go back to it.

I didn'y use any parmesan, and it didn't need it. It's on the higher side of the sodium scale, so I'll probably keep skipping the parmesan.

It comes in a 4 serving carton, so these numbers are for half the carton (two servings).

Amy's Organic Black Bean Vegetable (Whole Foods)

Pretty good, but so thick and chili-like that that's where the most relevant comparisons lie, and it falls short of the Trader Joe's chili reviewed below. Less sodium than the TJ, but not hugely. Corn kernels were the only obvious non-beans veggies in that stood out, and I'm just not a fan of whole kernels in my soups (or chilis). It's a texture thing.

It was fine, but I don't expect to buy it again.

Healthy Choice Garden Vegetable (Giant)

Just ok. Kinda reminded me of Spaghettios, but with veggies instead of meatballs. Tomato base, thick, lots of veggie chunks (peas, carrots, beans, green beans, corn) and some thoroughly abused pasta tubes. Poor little pasta tubes, never had a chance in that cold wet can. sigh.

A momentarily intriguing diversion, but not worth buying again.

something different: ¡SALSA!

I'm trying a bunch of lower-sodium (<100 mg) salsas, and so far most have been really good.

Thumbs Up:

Mama Vida's Smoked Corn & Black Bean (45 mg sodium and fantastic as a chip dip)
The Garlic Survival Company's Triple Garlic Salsa (sadly, this has gone missing from Whole Foods)
Trader Joe's Pico de Gallo Salsa (100 mg sodium, but has a funky tang!)
Trader Joes's Roasted Garlic Salsa
Trader Joes's Hot & Smoky Chipotle Salsa
Whole Foods Fire Roasted Salsa, Chile Morita (also smoky!)
Timpone's sala muy rica (whoah, really good, 100 mg sodium though)

Thumbs Down:

Trader Joe's Organic Salsa, mild (thaaat close to tasting exactly like ketchup)
Enrico's Organic Salsa, Hot (Better than TJ's Rganic, but still edging toward ketchup territory)

Westbrae Natural Vegetarian Chili, Spicy (Whole Foods)

Good, but not good enough. Inferior to the Trader Joe's chili in flavor and textrue. It's WAY thick, and not as flavorful as TJ's, even after hitting it hard with additional garlic and onion.

Trader Joe's Organic Black Bean Soup (TJ's)

Ok, new policy: I only bother calculating nutrition totals for soups I'd buy again. So no totals for this one. Not terrible, but totally failed to live up to it's enticing onion aroma. A letdown, especially after the the excellent TJ chili. This one also had the oddly-resistant chewy bits that I praised another soup for lacking.

Trader Joe's Organic Vegetarian Chili (Trader Joe's (duh))

323 calories, 1002 mg sodium, 12 g fiber

Yum! Preferred over the Health Valley veggie chili, but that could be due to burnout. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Very hearty, solid texture with no weird hard beans or anything, lots of spice (no temptation to add parmesan, which lets it slide on the extra 2 mg sodium). Lots of inclusion size variety, apparently due to a well executed ground beef analog made from soy, so this avoided looking like mud with beans stuck in it, as other veggie chilis can.

Buy again!

Health Valley Black Bean & Vegetable, Fat Free Soup (Whole Foods? Giant?)

As below... buy again, but partly because I waited too long and forgot exactly what it was like. I *think* I liked it...

Update: Kind of interesting, but has a sweetness that seems out of place and eventually unwelcome. Thick and muddy, punctuated by those too-resistant beans. Not really interested in buying again.

Amy's Organic Lentil Vegatable (Whole Foods)

Buy again... but partly because I waited too long and forgot exactly what it was like. I *think* I liked it...

Update: Not so hot. Maybe I'm just not a lentil fan. Improved with parmesan, but not enough.

Health Valley Potato Leek, No Salt Added, Organic Soup (Whole Foods)

I can't even be bothered to calculate the nutrition info because I hit this soup with everything I've got (garlic, onion, parmesan, celery seed...) and it was a waste of otherwise-effective spices. Blander than bland. Not buying it again.

Health Valley 14 Garden Vegetable (Giant Food)

142 calories, 691 mg sodium, 7 g fiber

My sense of taste seems to have recovered from my cold, so I'm glad this was a tastier soup. Thin, but busy with a very high population density. Not dominated by any veggie, but a hearty mix. Has beans, but doesn't seem dominated by them--not a "bean soup," and lacks whatever the hard beans are that some of the other soups had. Pleasant on it's own, but it took a real step up when I added parmesan.

Buy again.

UPDATE: Tried again, and still thought it was a winner. Keep 'em comin'!

UPDATE 2: Try with no parmesan. It clumps so much, I wonder if it's really contributing.

UPDATE 3: The shine has worn off. Somehow it seems too sweet. Too many carrots?

Health Valley Potato Leek, "Organic Soup" (Whole Foods)

~140 calories, ~880 mg sodium, ~5 g fiber

Filling, hearty thick texture, very good with light application of parmesan, little variety in taste leads to waning interest as meal progresses, but still remembered very favorably. Minimal fiber and green veggies, though. Maybe add more onion next time. Do try again.

Westbrae Natural Alabama Black Bean Gumbo soup (Whole Foods)

250 calories, 940 mg sodium, 11 g fiber

Very interesting attack/early flavor, quickly wanes leaving aggressivley blah main taste. Parmesan adds a lot to the later flavors. Grew on me (with the parmesan) as I kept eating it. Worth eating again, especially instead of a chili as it has a nearly muddy appearance

Health Vally Corn and Vegetable, Fat Free (Whole Foods)

160 calories, 780 mg sodium, 12 g fiber

Whole veggie pieces (not mushed), thin liquid, light taste--pleasant but vague, improved by parmesan

Health Valley "No Salt Added" Minestrone (Whole Foods)

Completely forgetable. I ate it 4 days ago and couldn't be bothered to post about it until now. No nutrition info because I'm certainly not buying any more.

Health Valley Super Broccoli, "Fat Free Carotene" (Whole Foods)

140 calories, 780 mg sodium, 14 g fiber

Favorite so far! Thin liquid, but so crowded with unmushed pieces that it seems thicker than it really is. Prominent, pleasant flavor, mildly enhanced with vigorous application of black pepper, might have been mildly improved by Parmesan, but hard to tell since the cheese really clumped up.

365 (Whole Foods) Creamy Broccoli Soup

This isn't a can, it's a 4-serving carton. These numbers are for two servings/half a carton:

160 calories, 760 mg sodium, 4 g fiber

Hmm, pretty good. It's muddy and smooth--no chunks, flakes, etc. Pleasant taste, but not really remarkable. This is the first soup to show NO CHANGE AT ALL when parmesan was added. weird. I didn't think to try adding pepper; I will for the second half of the carton.

Health Valley Minestrone "Fat Free Soup" (Whole Foods)

195 calories, 691 mg sodium, 12 g fiber

A better alternative to the Health Valley Vegetable soup. More flavor, more bits... but definitely inferior to the previous "new" minestrone, Amy's Organic Soups Low Fat Minestroni. Amy's minestrone is the clear favorite among these two soups, both of which outclass the HV Veggie soup.

Health Valley Vegetable "No Salt Added" (Whole Foods)

159 calories, 124 mg sodium, 7 g fiber

Bland, bland, bland. Good amount of stuff, except for the stuff that creates flavor. Thin, watery liquid. Better with parmesan, but that's not saying much. Edible, but not desirable.

Walnut Acres Hearty Black Bean Soup (Whole Foods)

255 calories, 901 mg sodium, 14 g fiber

Weird occasional tang in the odor which caused flashbacks of school gym locker rooms... not encouraging at all.

As advertised, it's got a hearty, muddy texture. The major visual components are the beans and corn kernels. The corn gives a unexpectedly resilient chew to the soup, which I initially didn't like.

But I kept eating it. Somehow, after adding parmesan, I started to enjoy it. I'm not sure what that says about me (paging Kim Cattrall...), but it's true.

The smell really is something, so if I buy it again it'll definitely be for those times with no guests around to bother. Weird.

Health Valley Vegetable Barley, "Fat Free Soup" (Whole Foods)

159 calories, 691 mg sodium, 7 g fiber

Good body due to population density, not thickness, good with parmesan, plenty of veggies, barley feels kind of noodly. Try it again.

UPDATE: Tried it again, and it's a winner. There's something almost stew-like about it, even though it's not about the viscosity. Hard to explain. Seems heartier than the Super Broccoli, aspiring to the Amy's Minestroni. Parmesan clumps in it, but it's still a good addition.

Health Valley 5 Bean Vegetable (Whole Foods)

248 calories, 850 mg sodium, 16 g fiber

Pretty good; I would buy and eat it again. Very high population density and hearty, cloudy, thick liquid. A bit like a minestrone. It simmered for a while, so I was surprised to find some beans that were still very firm. That may been a negative, but it was a small one. It was at least as good without the addition of parmesan, perhaps better. I think I would have traded some beans for green veggies.

Amy's Organic Soups Low Fat Minestroni (Whole Foods)

150 calories, 900 mg sodium, 5 g fiber

Wow! Very yummy. Closest I've found to the old-style Progresso Minestrone, including new-style Progresso. Outstanding flavor with or without parmesan. Good population density of veggies and beans. Medium clarity without parmesan, really fills in with it. I could live without the chunks of tomato, but they didn't get distracting. A winner, with less than half the sodium of the Progresso soup.

Health Valley Pasta Cacciatore, Fat Free (Whole Foods)

177 calories, 850 mg sodium, 7 g fiber

It's unspectacular, but might go for it again. Tomatoey, smells a bit like Health Valley chile, somewhat thick, about as good with or without parmesan.

Trader Joe's Lentil Vegetable

~250 calories, 1160 mg sodium
good with a smaller amount of parmesan cheese