Veggie Broth
If you haven’t had much experience in the kitchen, there are some recipes I would love for you to put into your repertoire. Not only are they easy, but they are cost effective and are very versatile. Stocks are very easy to make, you just have to put the ingredients into a pot and wait a couple of hours. That’s it. Broths and stocks store easily in the freezer, and you can just pull it out and let it thaw in the fridge overnight for your next use.
Not only are they easy to make but they give a depth of flavor to anything you put it in, soups, sauces, rice, braising vegetables - the list goes on and on. I prefer making my own stocks because I can control the quality of ingredients and also the flavor.
Also another note on flavor. If you are short on time by no means do you have to roast the veggies before putting into your stock pot. You can kind of think of the roasting as an enhancer of richness. Its like roasting chicken before adding to your soup or letting onions caramelize, it brings out another depth of richness to your stock. But this stock has lots of flavor without the roasting, so do as you please.
Ingredients
PLEASE WASH ALL OF YOUR VEGETABLES BEFORE COOKING
bunch of celery
whole red onion, peeled and quartered
green onion tops
2 garlic cloves, peeled
8-10 peppercorns
quality sea or kosher salt
bunch of parsley
2 bok choy (optional)
2-3 bay leaves
bunch of carrots (you can add leafy tops to stock or compost)
1/2 of white onion (I had leftover)
filtered water
olive oil
Turn on oven to 400F. Place large stockpot on stove, fill halfway, if you need more water you can add in more later. Put parsley and bay leaves in stockpot. If your using any other herbs, you can put in now. Put stockpot onto medium heat. Meanwhile, place the rest of your ingredients onto a sheet pan, salt lightly (you don’t want to have too salty stock) and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Roast veggies for 15-20 minutes, or just until brown and soft. Add the veggies out of the oven into the now simmering water. Add more water if needed to cover all the vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 5 hours - or until veggies are pretty much mushy. Check for seasoning every two hours, can add salt an hour before finished.
Strain stock through a wire mesh strainer. You can store in the fridge for a week, or freeze for a couple of months. Just take out of freezer and let thaw in the fridge overnight before using. Let me know in the comments below if you have ever made vegetable stock before!
