8/27 Minestrone with pesto

Background: The kids have gone back to their dad's right now, so I'm back to blogging. Here's my first blog of the fall: Minestrone with pesto... My principal gave me a zucchini that one of our teachers had grown, so I decided to use it in this soup. Soup is one of my favorite things to cook because you make way more than what you need and freeze the rest!!! I made this once for my friends Lisa and Jodee because Lisa helped me make a TON of pesto from the basil in her garden...

This is from the book, "Cook This, Not That". I couldn't find an exact recipe online so I'll embed the recipe ingredient amounts as I go...

Here are most of the ingredients...4 cups chicken stock, 4 cups water, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can white beans, 1 zucchini, 1 onion, 3-4 garlic cloves, a couple of spoonfuls of pesto, 2 carrots, 8 oz. potatoes, and 4 oz. green beans. Also 1/2 tsp dried thyme. Grated parmesan cheese to taste...

Potatoes and green beans....forgot these in the first picture

First, heat up a BIG pot over medium heat with 1 Tb olive oil. Add 1 chopped onion.

After the onion has softened (about 5 minutes...make sure you stir from time to time), add 2 cloves garlic (I chose 4 cloves because I love the taste of garlic), 1/2 lb cubed potato with the skin on (the recipe calls for yukon gold or red potatoes but I used russet b/c that's what I had on-hand), 2 medium carrots (I used a handful of baby carrots that I had on-hand), 1 medium zucchini, chopped (I had a HUGE zucchini, so I just hacked off a piece of it and chopped that, same size as the potato chops), 1/2 lb green beans (I used fresh raw green beans from the produce section), and salt/pepper to taste. Let cook for 3-5 minutes until you can smell the veggies cooking throughout the kitchen.

Add a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes (with the juice), chicken stock (the recipe calls for 8 cups of chicken stock, but gives the option for 1/2 chicken stock and 1/2 water, so I did that. AKA 4 cups chicken stock, 4 cups water), and 1/2 tsp dried thyme (I didn't have dried thyme so I used 1/2 tsp dried basil. Same diff.).

Simmer for as long as it takes for veggies to soften. Taste from time to time to see if you need to add salt. When potatoes are soft, it's ready. Don't add salt right away. Let it simmer for a while and add only as needed. DO NOT OVER SALT!!!!!

When the potatoes are almost done, add 1 14 oz can of drained and rinsed white beans, a few spoonfuls of jarred pesto and a couple of spoonfuls of grated parmesan cheese. Continue to cook for maybe 10 minutes.

Ladle soup into bowls and add a little more parmesan cheese. Yum!

This recipe is very healthy. It only has 200 calories and 490 mg. sodium. Plus, it's a great way to go meatless one day per week if you're into that. We loved it. The pesto adds a GREAT flavor!!! I would definitely make this over and over again. It's a great way to use all the fresh veggies from your garden!

Bonus - there's TONS left over to freeze and eat another day, preferably in the middle of next week when I'm dead tired and not willing to cook.

Double bonus - here's our sunset today....

As always, I'd love to hear from you if you make this recipe, or if you appreciate any of my tips.