A Soup and Salad Party is always welcome by the dieters. Salads are a good way to intake one's daily recommended portion of vegetables.

Here are a few useful tips for a Soup And Salad Party :

• Always buy the vegetables that look fresh and crisp and are not wrinkled, wilted or limp.
• Add cream to the soup (if required), only just before serving. Do not boil the soup after adding cream. Gently simmer it.
• Soup can be served as the first course or as a part of the main meal along with the salads. A minestrone soup is 'a meal in itself' and should be served as a part of the main course.
• Serve a combination of a heavy and a light salad to make the meal substantial.
• If you are counting calories, substitute part or all of the mayonnaise with yoghurt based dressings.
• Generally, in lighter salads, add the salad dressing to the salad just before serving, particularly in salads containing greens like spinach and lettuce.
• Sprinkling toasted walnuts, almonds or peanuts on top of the salad, gives an extra bit of crunch to the salad and are a good garnish too.
• Soup sticks, warm dinner rolls, garlic bread, corn bread, bagette, or any crusty bread are good accompaniments to a soup and salad.
• Also leave croutons, grated cheese, some extra dressing, seasonings like salt, pepper, tobasco on the table, so that the guests can help themselves.
• Finish the meal with a light ice-cream, sorbet, flavoured yoghurt or even a simple cup of coffee.