The other week, Cameron Village Library had an entire display on books about food for kids. My daughter took it all home.

Among the books was a really cute one called "Making Minestrone" by Stella Blackstone. It's the story about a little boy who is bored, so he calls up his friends and they all make a pot of minestrone soup together with ingredients from the garden. The book features a recipe for minestrone at the end.

We took the book along on our trip last week to upstate New York and made a huge pot to share with my Dad. My daughter chopped up the zucchini on her own with a butter knife and ate a lot of the finished product.

What really makes this soup taste great is the addition of pesto, which I never considered for soup before. You can always add more veggies and beans or even chicken or sausage if you want a heartier meal. I like to top it with a little grated parmesan.

Minestrone

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 to 2 cloves of garlic (I added a few more)

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

5 cups vegetable stock (the small grocery store in my Dad's town didn't have it so we went with chicken broth)

6 large tomatoes, chopped, or a half of a large can

1 large potato, peeled and diced

1/2 can cannellini beans

1/2 cup small pasta shapes

1/2 cups of fresh or frozen peas

1 1/2 cups cabbage, chopped (you can always buy a bag of the pre-chopped cabbage for coleslaw to speed up that process)

1 cup green beans, chopped (we used frozen)

1 medium zucchini, chopped

2 tablespoons parsley

2 tablespoons pesto

salt and pepper

Saute onion and garlic in oil until golden brown. Add the carrot and fry for two minutes. Add the stock, tomatoes, potato, cannellini beans, pasta and fresh peas (if using). Bring to boil, reduce the heat and half cover the pan with the lid and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the frozen peas (if using), cabbage, green beans, zucchini, parsley, pesto and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 30 minutes or until all the veggies are soft. Serves 4.

Every Wednesday on TriangleMom2Mom, writers share what they're eating and their kids are eating.

Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:

MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!

WEEKEND: Relax!