Vegetable Broth

Flavor.  It’s what many of us forget about when cooking a weeknight meal on a tight schedule or a tight budget.  I’m not talking about cooking for some special occasion (though please refer back to this post when you do).  I’m talking about the everyday rice and veggies or slow cooker soup you are going to eat all week for lunch.  They aren’t fancy meals, but they get the job done. 

This post is about stock--more specifically, vegetable stock.  Vegetable broth can add a new dimension to your cooking by simply using it in place of water.  Stock is available at the grocery store, but it comes packaged in one of the worst containers possible.  It is some kind of paper/plastic/foil box that is not recyclable, compostable, or any version in between.  It cannot be taken apart easily to recycle its component parts, so it goes to landfill every time.

The answer, of course, is to make it yourself.  I understand time is a factor, but we have discovered a couple of simple ways to make it that really couldn’t be easier or cheaper.

It all starts when you are cutting up an onion, or carrots, or zucchini, or tomatoes, or whatever vegetables you are cooking with.  Dedicate a container or four (we use old takeout containers) and keep them in the freezer.  Add your scraps to the container every time you cut up a vegetable.  If there are rotten bits, don’t save those, just compost them.  Over time, you will amass lots of frozen scraps that can be used directly for your vegetable stock.

The process is simple and does not require many tools.  I recommend a large pot, a glass container with a pour spout, a strainer, and a couple of mason jars with lids. 

Stove Top

1. I start by pulling my frozen veggie scraps out of the freezer and finding some onion and carrot.  You can also use celery at this point, but we don’t care for it and don’t usually have any on hand. 
2. Add the onions and the carrots to the pot with a small amount of your oil of choice.  Let that heat up and sizzle for a little while.  You will get a boost of flavor from the onions, and a bit of sweetness from the carrots.  Basically, this is the same starting point for most broth-based soups. 
3. Give the onions and carrots about 3 or 4 minutes and then add half of the total water.  We have an 8 cup pot, so I add 4 cups of water at this point. 
4. 
   Next, add more frozen vegetables.  A mix of things is nice.  Try not to add more than 20% bitter items like carrot tops, kale cuttings, broccoli stems, etc.
5. Add the remaining 4 cups of water.  Cover the pot and bring it just to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer.
6. Let the concoction simmer for about 40 minutes to an hour and then turn off the burner.  I just let it sit and cool a bit.  Honestly, I let it sit until I have about 10 minutes to spare during my work day.
7. Last, I strain the newly made stock into the glass container with the pour spout, and distribute the stock among the mason jars I set up previously. 

Slow Cooker

1. 
   Sauté onion and carrot in a frying pan with a little oil for 3-4 minutes.  We want to release the flavor in the onion and sweetness in the carrot.   
2. Add the sautéed onion and carrot into the slow cooker and add water to fill the basin ¾ of the way.
3. Finally add the rest of the vegetable scraps from your container, making sure to add only about 20% bitter items.
4. Turn the slow cooker on high for about 4 hours.
5. Last, strain the newly made stock into the glass container with the pour spout, and distribute the stock among the mason jars previously set up. 

We use the stock to make everything from soups to risotto to plain rice.  We even tried it at thanksgiving for the stuffing.  It is an easy way to recycle your vegetable scraps one more time before composting them. 

Anyway, we got this recipe (roughly) from a cookbook called Thug Kitchen.  (We realized we had no idea who the authors were, and, when looking, found out they were a white couple from L.A., which was not what we had assumed.  Check out this excellent essay by Bryant Terry, a Black food advocate, for his take on this misrepresentation.)¹

 

1. https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/10/living/thug-kitchen-controversy-eatocracy/index.html