Healthy Eating
Soup and Salad
RECIPES
Soups, Salads and other healthy recipes.
NUTRITION
Nutriational information about ingredients and a healthy balanced diet.
HOME GROWN
Ideas, hints and tips for growing some of your own fruits and vegetables.
DESSERTS
Healthly puddings and desserts.
WELLBEING
A balanced life approach to wellbeing.
Mr Soup and Salad
What is Mr Soup and Salad?
Hello, I'm John aka “Mr Soup and Salad” — the nickname given to me at a slimming club. The name stuck.
My journey started on 1 June 2022, when I was nearly 19 stone and approaching 60. I went along to keep my wife company and did not expect to return the following week.
By November 2022, I had reduced my weight from 18st 9lb to 15st 3lb.
But this has not been a straight-line journey.
My weight went back up, came down again, and by 2026 had gone back up to over 18 stone.
So, from June 2026, I am starting that downward weight trend again — but this time using what I have learned, and will share, for a bigger focus on long-term health, energy, wellbeing, and keeping the weight off.
This is not about appearance. It is not about following someone else’s diet plan.
It is about personal development, learning what works, eating better, moving more. I have found growing some of my own food has also taught me to appreciate what I eat and reduce waste as much as possible., and other benefits. Finding simple ways to feel healthier, fitter, more positive, and more able to enjoy life.
If that sounds interesting, welcome aboard.
I hope you find inspiration here — through recipes, nutrition facts, growing tips, wellbeing ideas, and encouragement to help you find what works for you.
Eating well is not about being perfect.
Healthy eating is about giving our bodies more of what helps them feel better: colourful vegetables, fresh ingredients, useful protein, fibre, good flavour, and meals that leave us feeling satisfied rather than sluggish.
When I eat better, I usually feel better. I have more energy, feel more in control, and often find it easier to make other good choices too — such as moving more, getting outside, cooking from scratch, and thinking more carefully about what I put on my plate.
Healthy eating does not have to be complicated. A bowl of homemade soup, a colourful salad, a baked potato with a good topping, or a simple meal made with real ingredients can be a great place to start.
But fresh, wholesome food costs more and takes longer, right?
Not always.
Batch cooking and simple ingredient preparation can save time, reduce waste, and make healthier choices easier during the week. It can also help avoid some of the extra salt, sugar, fat, and additives often found in shop-bought sauces, soups, and ready-made meals.
For example, my quest for the perfect tomato soup became more than just a recipe. It became a way to add quick, simple ingredients that brought more flavour, more colour, and a wider variety of nutrients.
Cooked in a batch and stored properly in the fridge, it can last for several days and provide an easy, healthy option when time is short.
On Mr Soup and Salad, I will explore simple ways to eat better, prepare food ahead, make ingredients last longer, and keep healthy eating realistic for everyday life.
Eat Healthy, Feel Healthy
Feed the body, mind and soul...
Eating the Rainbow
One simple way to make healthy eating more interesting is to “eat the rainbow”.
This means adding a variety of colourful fruit, vegetables, herbs, beans, pulses, and other plant-based ingredients to our meals. The colours in fruit and vegetables usually develop from natural plant pigments and protective compounds. These are not normally minerals themselves, but they often come packaged with useful vitamins, minerals, fibre, and other nutrients.
That is why eating a wider range of colours can be a helpful reminder to add more variety to our plates.
For example, strawberries turn red as they ripen because of natural red plant pigments called anthocyanins. They also provide vitamin C, fibre, folate, potassium, and manganese. So, as well as looking bright and colourful, strawberries can form part of a varied diet that supports everyday health.
Blackberries are not truly black, but a very deep purple. Their dark colour also comes largely from anthocyanins, which become more concentrated as the fruit ripens. Blackberries bring fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K, manganese, and other useful nutrients to the table.
Other colours tell their own story too. Orange carrots contain carotenoids. Green leaves contain chlorophyll and often bring folate, vitamin K, magnesium, and fibre. Red tomatoes are known for lycopene. Purple cabbage, beetroot, peppers, herbs, beans, lentils, and grains can all add something different.
For me, this is one of the joys of soups and salads. They make it easy to add colour, texture, flavour, and nutrients without making food complicated.
A soup can start with onions, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, lentils, herbs, and spices. A salad can be built with leaves, cucumber, beetroot, beans, eggs, seeds, fruit, or whatever needs using up in the fridge.
Eating the rainbow is not about being perfect. It is about small choices, more variety, and making meals look and taste more inviting.
The more colour I add, the more interesting the food becomes — and the more likely I am to enjoy eating in a healthier, more balanced way.
Despite the name, Mr Soup and Salad is not about living on soup and salad alone.
A healthy balanced diet needs variety. It can include vegetables, fruit, protein, fibre, wholegrains, healthy fats, dairy or dairy alternatives, herbs, spices, and the occasional treat too. It is not about cutting everything out. It is about making better choices more often.
Soup and salad can play a lovely role in that.
A good soup can be warming, filling, colourful, and packed with useful ingredients. It can be a simple way to add vegetables, beans, lentils, herbs, spices, and flavour to the day.
A good salad does not have to be a few tired lettuce leaves on the side of a plate. It can be fresh, colourful, crunchy, satisfying, and full of texture. Add protein, grains, potatoes, eggs, beans, seeds, or a good dressing, and it can become a proper meal.
For me, soups and salads are useful because they are flexible. They can be light or filling, simple or creative, cheap or special, quick or batch-cooked for later.
They also sit well alongside other everyday meals — baked potatoes, pasta, rice dishes, curries, stews, chilli, omelettes, roast dinners, and plenty more.
This site is about enjoying food, learning what works, and finding a healthier balance that still feels realistic, satisfying, and enjoyable.