Pistou Soup

So, I'm starting a blog. Not a blog about my life and what's happening. A food blog. Will there be stories about my life and what is going on in my life? Yes, as it relates to the food and recipes I blog about. The reason I'm starting this blog is because I love to cook and I often have friends and family want a copy of a recipe and this way I can just direct them to my blog and they can get a copy.
There are a couple of other reasons as well. I find myself with 50 cookbooks, 40 Cuisine at Home magazines and I now subscribe to Food Network magazine. I could never find the recipe I wanted so several years ago I started a binder. Pretty soon I needed a second binder and then a third. So my binders are working great. All the recipes are in plastic sleeves and tabbed so that all the side dishes are together, all the soups are together etc. I now find that I'm going to need a 4th binder and for now, I'm drawing the line at 3. So, while over half of the recipes in the binders are recipes I've actually tried and like, many I've not tried so I want to start weeding out those that don't pass the muster and only add recipes that I have tried and like. So my thought was that if I start a blog and commit to trying these recipes, I'll actually get it done. It worked when I set a goal to organize and paint each room in the house over 2 years ago and worked this year with my "projects" when I told myself that I couldn't buy or start anything else until I completed everything I had already started, and not finished, or had purchased and not started. Was it perfect? No! But I got really close and I can actually see the bottom of my guest bedroom closet!
I fancy myself to be a pretty good cook and so is Randy. Not Food Network kind of good cook mind you. But, I often experiment on friends and family, particularly Gayle and Mike and our friend Steve. They keep coming back so I must be doing something right!
Many of you know that I work for the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge and might assume that the only thing I ever cook is something that would be offered at the resort. Au contrair! While I do like everything that the kitchen offers, I don't hold back when it comes to my cooking at home. Bring on the cream, butter, you name it! You won't see many desserts in my blog however. We just don't eat many desserts. But, when I do fix a dessert, I go fully leaded! I don't eat a ton of chocolate, compared to my daughter Jen, but I do get a piece of chocolate each time I purchase fabric at my favorite quilt store. Hummmmm, maybe that explains why I have enough loose fabric to make about 8 scrappy quilts!
You won't read "when I was growing up" at any time in my blog. Those who know me well know that my Dad, Ole Joe, now 87, refuses to grow up so his kids, grandkids and now great-grandkids are refusing to grow up until he does! This last weekend one of my girls said "we don't really ever grow up, we just learn how to behave in public"!
It's highly unlikely that you see a recipe for liver and onions, one of the only things I can think of that I won't eat. Annette and I were just talking about an evening when we were kids when she came over for dinner and Mom served liver. Annette ate the entire dinner with a clothes pin on her nose! While I really like eggplant, you probably won't see that in my blog either as Randy does not like it so I don't cook it unless he is out of town. Well, now there's a possibility. I wonder where he could go??
So, let's get to the food. When I received the last Food Network magazine, I went through it and cut out all the recipes I was interested in. Randy then picked it up and was thumbing through it. He came to a recipe and said that I obviously hadn't read this particular recipe or I would have cut it out. The name of Pistou soup and the picture didn't inspire me. Once I read the recipe I agreed that it was a good one. He said he was going to make it the next night. I was quite surprised because there isn't any meat in this soup and he rarely cooks anything that isn't red meat.
I came through the door the next afternoon to the heavenly scent of this soup cooking. While there isn't any meat, it is a very hardy soup. And the leftovers are wonderful! Feel free to use any pasta that you want and any combination of beans that you want.
Bon appetite and keep well until next time!

Pistou Soup
Serves 4
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 carrots, halved lenghtwise and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato past
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 pound green or yellow wax beans
1 small zucchini or yellow summer squash (or both)
1 15-ounce can white beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup broken spaghetti or other small pasta
3/4 cup store-bought pesto
Grated parmesan cheese and crusty bread, for serving (optional)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and onion and cook, stirring constantly, until the onion is lightly browned, arout 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and 1 tablespook salt and cook 1 more minute. Add 7 cups water, cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and petter.
2. Meanwhile, trim the green beans and zucchini and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Stir into the prepared broth along with the beans and spaghetti. Simmer until the pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes.
3. When ready to serve, whisk 1/3 cup pesto into the soup. Ladle into bowls and top with the remaining pesto. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve with bread, if desired.
Per serving: 479 calories