SPRING VEGETABLES AND WHITE BEANS SCENTED WITH FRESH BAY
- 2 cups Cheater’s Homemade Vegetable
- Broth or canned vegetable broth
- 4 medium carrots, sliced into thick 3-inchlong matchsticks
- 8 garlic cloves, thin sliced
- 2 fresh bay leaves, bruised
- One 15-ounce can cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach, washed
- Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 to 2 tablespoons good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Instructions:
This is a bowl brimming with the fresh, clear tastes of spring: sticks of carrots, slivers of garlic, handfuls of baby spinach, all married with the earthy meatiness of white beans and the citrus scent of fresh bay leaves.
- In a 6-quart pot with a tight-fitting cover, combine the broth, carrots, garlic, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce the heat, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the carrots are tender.
- Add the beans, spinach, and salt and pepper, and stir to wilt the spinach into the stew. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted and the beans are heated through.
- Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the pot, remove the bay leaves, and serve the stew with drizzles of olive oil and sprinklings of grated Parmigiano.