If you're addicted to taking risks, you also have to be all in when it comes to putting the time and energy into recovery. 

During the winter, the classic cannellini bean and sautéed spinach dish acts as my constant comfort food.  Through those dark and cold months, I play with ratios—bean to spinach, garlic to bean, chicken broth to sausage—and end with a meal I relish.  

With the arrival of Spring, it should have occurred to me that beans and greens could make the transition and thrive.  What with the fresh and local bunches of spinach and kale abounding. But it didn’t. Until I received my Weeknight Kitchen email from Lynne Rosetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table radio show.  To mark the new season, the recipe added fresh bay leaves to the usual cast.  

Inspired, I gathered the ingredients through the week and intended to test-drive the recipe on Saturday. When the day came, I noticed I had a pack of tempeh in the fridge that was on the verge of languishing.  Thinking of the fragrant broth and tempeh's ability to marinate, the meatless replacement seemed to have potential. With the carrots, garlic, and bay leaves simmering, I risked it, and  tossed in squares of tempeh before continuing with the rest of the recipe.

Risky risky tempeh.

After adding the beans and spinach, I began sampling the broth, the carrots, and the tempeh. True to Rosetto Kasper’s description, the scent of the bay leaves was citrus-like and enticing. I was pleased and excited.  Then I ate the tempeh, and I realized I needed to perform triage. 

Welcome to recovery : A piece-by-piece extraction of the offending ingredient. Followed by a bit more salt, a handful of spinach, and a couple garlic cloves. Thanks to the final steps of squeezing lemon juice, drizzling olive oil, and sprinkling Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, the day was saved and the dish savored.

If Heidi Swanson from 101 Cookbooks is cooking’s vegetarian Macgyver, then Lynne Rosetto Kasper is your Auntie Mame. She has a marvelous deep laugh and enthusiasm for everything—she’s moments from quoting the line Rosalind Russell popularized when she played Mame on film: “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!”  The perfect invitation to risk and redemption when you fail.

 I've posted Rosetto's spring vegetables recipe below the jump.

Spring Vegetables and White Beans Scented with Fresh Bay

Serves 4

10 minutes prep time; 15 minutes stove time

Easily made ahead, this dish is good at room temperature or reheated.

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.

Set these out with a bowl of boiled barley, rice (cook it like pasta and success is guaranteed), or wheat berries, and you have a complete protein, just like eating meat, but for far less money and much, much more interesting flavors.

         •         2 cups Cheater's Homemade Vegetable Broth (recipe follows) or canned vegetable broth

         •         4 medium carrots, sliced into thick 3-inch-long 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

         •         1/4 cup fresh-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

Cheater's Homemade Broth

Makes about 4 cups; doubles and triples easily

5 minutes prep time; 30 minutes stove time

The broth keeps for 4 days refrigerated and 6 months frozen

         •         1/2 cup dry white wine

         •         2 large garlic cloves, crushed (leave unpeeled if organic)

         •         2 whole cloves

         •         1 canned tomato

         •         1 bay leaf, broken

         •         1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crumbled

         •         Three 14-ounce cans vegetable broth

         •         1 medium to large onion, coarse chopped (if organic, trim away root but leave skin)

         •         1/2 large celery stalk with leaves, coarse chopped

         •         1/2 medium carrot, coarse chopped (leave unpeeled if organic)

1. In a 4-quart pot, combine all the ingredients. Bring to a simmer, partially cover, and cook for 30 minutes.

2. Strain the broth into a bowl or a storage container. Use it right away, refrigerate it, or freeze it.