Chicken, Mushroom & Rice Soup - Marks & Spencer

Its lunch time, its Friday, and its payday (YAY!). I thought I would give myself an extra special treat today and splash out on a fresh tub of soup. My shop of choice today is Marks & Spencer, in my opinion they have a top reputation for selling good food, as a frequent customer I can vouch for that. Their food always looks like its been cared for, and the majority of it is British produce.So I went for the Chicken, Mushroom & Rice Soup, I usually wouldn't go for a chicken soup as in the past I have eaten many a fail. The rich creamy gelatinous texture really puts me off, but today I am giving this chicken soup a chance.

Ingredients: Water, onions, carrots, mushrooms, cream, basmati rice, chicken breast, chicken thigh, wheatflour, concentrated roast chicken, butter, celery, rapeseed oil, salt, parsley, thyme, ground black pepper, ground bay leaves.

The verdict:

WOW WOW WOW WOW! My mind and mouth are blown! Is it possible to fall in love with a soup? Gone are my days of having a chicken salad sandwich for lunch! If lunches were made of dreams mine would be this soup. Maybe I am being a bit too over the top, but this soup really has surprised me. Its light texture and perfectly sized chunks make this soup a perfect lunch time balance. You can taste all the ingredients in equal measures, the seasoning is spot on, the chicken is juicy and still has a bite to it. This is a perfect soup for any occasion, it is hearty, healthy and homely.
Even though I have a lot of love for this soup I do have one minus point, a very small one. The portion size. The tub is 600g which is too much for one sitting, yet half the tub is just not enough. Ideally it would be great if the tub was either 800g for 2 portions, or 400g for one. Saying this, it might just be that I'm a pig and should realise 300g is the correct portion size... either way, my request to Marks & Spencer - Please change the tub size, thanks.

Souper rating: 5 out of 5 - I love it, I could eat this everyday. Definitely a close number 1 in my top 5.

Tomato & Three Bean Soup - CO-OP

Loved by them, Loved by us, Loved by me!
Today's soup is one of my all time favorites, tomato and three bean from The Co-operative. Not only is this soup advertised as low fat, but its 55p, that's 55 pence worth of goodness.
The beans in question consist of Borlotti, Blackeye and Flageolet, together they make a taste sensation. The creaminess of the beans mixed with the spicy tomato base creates a Mexican party in your mouth. Its not unbearably hot but just hot enough to enjoy that slight wake up kick, which is perfect for a lunch time pick me up.
My only niggle with this is soup is the presences of red and green peppers. Its not a highlight written on the can, but it is listed in the ingredients, yet these squidgy bits are clearly visible to the eye, and their very distinct taste triggers the senses when you bite into a slithering chunk. I'm not a huge fan of the pepper, but I will accept its existence for the sake of this tasty combination.

The verdict:

This has made my Thursday! I can honestly say this soup is worthy of my money and time... even if the peppers aren't an added bonus. The flavors combined with the healthy factor means this soup ticks all the boxes. I would highly recommend this soup to anyone who needs a mini fiesta during their lunch break.

Souper rating: 4.5 out of 5 - This soup definitely makes it into my top 5 souper soups. 

Pea and what?!

Today's lunch came in the canned form from Tesco, pea and ham. The ingredients seem to sound healthy, not too many additives or fake mystery meat sources. In fact the can contained real smoked pork! Well a little... I was sold! And at 45p how could I not try this.

Ingredients:Water, Peas (35%) (Petit Pois, Garden Peas, Marrowfat Peas), Onion, Smoked Ham (3%), Modified Maize Starch, Pea Flour, Salt, Yeast Extract, Sugar, Leek Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, White Pepper, Flavouring (Celery), Milk Sugar, Colour (Mixed Carotenes), Smoked Ham contains: Pork, Water, Salt, Milk Proteins, Milk Sugar, Milk Mineral Concentrate, Preservative (Sodium Nitrite), Stabiliser (Sodium Triphosphate)

The verdict: 

Being that lunch is the most important time of the day, I was hugely disappointing and left to hunt down a substitute, this being a handful of soft cashew nuts.
The soup at first looked appetising, a nice shade of green, like the colour of a 70's bathroom, but when I went in for a mouthful, the different varieties of peas on offer looked slightly grey. This was then confirmed by the taste, which I can only describe as being 'gone off'. To top this off, the ham, oh the ham, this is not ham this is weird tasting rubbery pink bits, if I could compare it to something I would say it resembled dog treats, but even then I wouldn't give this to my dog.
How can soup in a can taste gone off?! How can peas taste gone off?! To put it bluntly it was disgusting, I would never recommend this soup, nor would I buy a can and give it to a donate your extra food charity. Sorry Tesco, try again.

Souper rating: -5 out of 5 - It not only ruined my day, but possibly my internal organs.