Vegetable Stock
* use a dry erase to label your jars, so you don’t forget what it is!
Ok, I know it’s pretty red, but it’s because of the beets. Read on and you’ll find out a great, easy way to keep stock on hand for soups. I love making soups for lunch during the school year. More often than not, the whole family is here for lunch time. Soup is an easy, healthy way to go. I make a huge batch about twice a week and that’s our lunch most days. When I have vegetable stock on hand, the soups are way yummier! I was very inspired by Scott & Helen Nearing’s Good Life Book. She made lots of soups and has lots of wisdom on making them. In this stock I used 1 onion, 3 leeks (the green parts I didn’t use when using the leeks for a saldad), carrots, garlic, chard, beet greens and stems, parsley, kale stems.
What to do: when you are prepping vegetables for any other dish, keep a stock pot handy and put all the washed peels of onions and carrots and taters in it. Any pieces of greens such as collards or kale should go in also. As much garlic as you can spare and the trimmings of any herbs you use. Sometimes my stock pot will take a few days to fill. I have a compost bin and a stockpot on my counter when I cook. The best vegis to use are onions, celery, carrots, shallots, leeks, garlic, parsley, thyme, a bay leaf or two, chard stem’s, mushgrooms, potato, tomatoes, green beans. Avoid using cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, red beets (I used the beet greens-that’s why my stock is pink), spoiled vegetables.
You can saute the onions in olive oil if you want, but I don’t usually. Oh, I add a whole onion to the other scrap vegetables. Just put them all in a big pot and add water to cover by a few inches and boil for a long time. Let cool and then strain into jars. So easy and it really makes a difference in your soups from scratch!
