The Repurposing Life

Homemade Vegetable Stock

I love making soups and stocks in the winter. I prefer to make my own homemade vegetable stock from scratch. The idea of tossing a whole bunch of gorgeous carrots, celery, onions, and herbs into the pot, only to remove them all a little while later, replacing them with new veggies that would feature in the actual soup, always rubbed me the wrong way.

Buying cartons of stock is expensive and those cartons may or may not actually be recyclable. Buying bouillon is somewhat more eco-friendly, yet neither is a truly zero waste approach. But then, about a month ago, I came across a post on social media about making vegetable stock from kitchen scraps.

So I started saving my vegetable and herb scraps (but not the peels, I eat those!) that would otherwise have gone straight into the compost bin. I stored them in a one-gallon reusable silicone bag in my freezer. I love to grow my own food, I love to cook, and I’m a vegetarian, so I never have a shortage of these.

Then I followed the incredibly simple instructions (basically, cover them with water, bring to a boil and simmer for one hour, then strain) to make my own homemade vegetable stock. And it was good! It was easy. It was free. And absolutely no vegetables were wasted in its making. Once I was done with those scraps, they got tossed on the compost heap, too.

I portioned the stock and stored it in the freezer for the next time I make soup. I also experimented with storing some in an ice cube tray so as to have some smaller portions of stock on hand. Lastly, I chose to reduce part of it down to a thicker paste for a concentrated stock I could keep in the refrigerator, and use by the spoonful.

For Broth That is More Like Bullion

If you’d like the stock to have a thick paste consistence, then continue boiling, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by ¾.

Storage

Let cool, then pour into glass jars, or clean repurposed containers. Let cool completely in the fridge and freeze, or store in the fridge for up to five days. To store your broth and keep it handy, freeze in ice cube trays, that way you have parceled portions at the ready.

Vegetables To Save

Onions, carrots, and celery form the backbone of vegetable stock. But lots of other vegetables add sweetness and flavor: leeks, scallions, garlic, onions, fennel, chard, lettuce, potatoes, parsnips, green beans, pea pods, zucchini and other squash, bell peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, asparagus, corn cobs, winter squash skins, beet greens, and herbs like dill, thyme, parsley, cilantro and basil. You can use anything that is beginning to lose its luster but steer clear of anything that has actually become rotten or moldy. Also avoid potatoes that have skin that has turned green, since this is an indicator that the solanine levels in them have become toxic.

Vegetables to Skip

The following cruciferous vegetables tend to overpower the stock flavor and turn a bit bitter, so you may want to simply compost them: cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, artichokes.

Vegetables to (Maybe) Skip

You can use beet root scraps and onion skins (they add great flavor) but just be aware that they will make your stock either a deep red or a deep brown so you may want to skip them.

Storing the Scraps

Roughly 4-6 cups of vegetables will make 2 quarts of stock. You can either save your scraps throughout the week in a large reusable silicone bag or some other repurposed airtight container in the fridge, and if you’re collecting scraps longer than a week, then keep them in the freezer.

Source and photo credit:
The Garden of Eating
Make Homemade Vegetable Stock From Kitchen Scraps
http://www.thegardenofeating.org/2012/03/make-homemade-vegetable-stock-from.html
by Eve Fox, Thursday, March 15, 2012
http://pinterest.com/foxeve/