I’m hungry but I don’t know what I want. Peer into the freezer filled with leftover portions from previous nights. Meh. Toast? Meh. Muesli? Meh.
What’s in the cupboard? Hmm, a few soups that I bought on special. Haven’t had their potato and spinach one before. If I don’t know what I want then I may as well eat something unknown.
Bowl on the counter, pulling back the ringtop to open the can. Turn the can upside down, to pour out to soup.
Nothing happens.
Shake the can.
Nothing.
Whack the can on the bottom while shaking.
Nope.
This soup is set into jelly. Spooning it out, a quivering mass that stays piled in clumps rather than running to a level. It is solid, not liquid. In fact, it is a murky grey green solid, not the white-with-spinach-flecked soup advertised on the front of the can.
I should reserve judgement. Soup is about taste, after all. Plus maybe it will melt down in the microwave?
Stir up the puree, set it to heat for a minute. Where’s the can, did they add gelatin or something? Wow, only one two… ten ingredients. That’s kind of impressive for canned anything. Water is the major ingredient, how can it have gotten so firm?
Another stir after a minute. It has gotten a little more runny around the edges… and I swear it seems more bile green than before. White with green bits it is not.
One more minute and a final stir and it’s a thick puree. Thank goodness it isn’t forming peaks anymore.
Settle in front of the television with my first spoonful. Well, the texture isn’t too bad, I don’t mind puree, but where’s the taste? It tastes of salt and pepper and a vague hint of potato… but not really like potato. How can a soup made mostly out of potato not taste like potato? I don’t know what purpose the spinach serves, or even if there is any in there… can’t see it, can’t taste it.
Eating some more. It’s not an offensive taste, it doesn’t taste at all bad, just… peppery nothingness.
It is very filling. By the end of the bowl I’m quite full. And for under 250 calories for the whole can that’s not bad. It does sit very heavy on the stomach… I suppose in essence I’ve just eaten half a kilo of potato, so no wonder.
Still, there are better tasting and more attractive low-calorie canned soups out there. Heinz sells some of them. I won’t buy this again, even on special.
Rating: 
Specifics: Heinz Very Vegetable Potato and Spinach Soup, bought from Coles, Macquarie Fields
Heinz Potato and Spinach Soup
I’m hungry but I don’t know what I want. Peer into the freezer filled with leftover portions from previous nights. Meh. Toast? Meh. Muesli? Meh.
What’s in the cupboard? Hmm, a few soups that I bought on special. Haven’t had their potato and spinach one before. If I don’t know what I want then I may as well eat something unknown.
Bowl on the counter, pulling back the ringtop to open the can. Turn the can upside down, to pour out to soup.
Nothing happens.
Shake the can.
Nothing.
Whack the can on the bottom while shaking.
Nope.
This soup is set into jelly. Spooning it out, a quivering mass that stays piled in clumps rather than running to a level. It is solid, not liquid. In fact, it is a murky grey green solid, not the white-with-spinach-flecked soup advertised on the front of the can.
I should reserve judgement. Soup is about taste, after all. Plus maybe it will melt down in the microwave?
Stir up the puree, set it to heat for a minute. Where’s the can, did they add gelatin or something? Wow, only one two… ten ingredients. That’s kind of impressive for canned anything. Water is the major ingredient, how can it have gotten so firm?
Another stir after a minute. It has gotten a little more runny around the edges… and I swear it seems more bile green than before. White with green bits it is not.
One more minute and a final stir and it’s a thick puree. Thank goodness it isn’t forming peaks anymore.
Settle in front of the television with my first spoonful. Well, the texture isn’t too bad, I don’t mind puree, but where’s the taste? It tastes of salt and pepper and a vague hint of potato… but not really like potato. How can a soup made mostly out of potato not taste like potato? I don’t know what purpose the spinach serves, or even if there is any in there… can’t see it, can’t taste it.
Eating some more. It’s not an offensive taste, it doesn’t taste at all bad, just… peppery nothingness.
It is very filling. By the end of the bowl I’m quite full. And for under 250 calories for the whole can that’s not bad. It does sit very heavy on the stomach… I suppose in essence I’ve just eaten half a kilo of potato, so no wonder.
Still, there are better tasting and more attractive low-calorie canned soups out there. Heinz sells some of them. I won’t buy this again, even on special.
Rating:
Specifics: Heinz Very Vegetable Potato and Spinach Soup, bought from Coles, Macquarie Fields