Basic Vegetable Stock

I made vegetable stock.

I feel like a super hero. I love that it uses ingredients I almost always have on hand, and it only took about 35-40 minutes to make. Lovely!

With this month of unprocessed foods, I'm finding that so many things I rely on pre-made (stock, applesauce, anything breakfast related) are actually pretty easy to make at home. Somethings I just never thought of making myself and vegetable stock was one of those things.  Lesson learned, I don't have to be beholden to the box anymore- I'll make this instead of using the boxed stuff. It's way too easy and way too good.

You just chop up the veggies, and brown them up in a big ol' pot. The more color they get, the richer the stock will be.

After the veggies brown for a bit (5-10 minutes), put in a bit of salt and eight cups of water (2 quarts). Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer for about 30 minutes. 

Strain it and it will look like this! I was trying to capture the depth of flavor that you can just see in the color there- so fabulous- but I was also making barley soup and desperately waiting to add the stock so this is what you get. A glassy, odd looking photo. I deem it good enough!

So that's that! Vegetable stock! Make some! It's divine.

Basic Vegetable Stock 
from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (my new favorite cookbook)

ingredients

1 onion
2 carrots (large)
2 celery ribs, plus some leaves
1 bunch of scallions
1 tbsp olive oil/vegetable oil
8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
6 thyme sprigs or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
salt
8 cups cold water

Scrub your vegetables and chop them up. Warm up your very large pan with the oil. Add the vegetables and herbs and cook over high heat until they get nice and brown (5-10 minutes). Add about 2 teaspoons of salt and 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. Strain it and use it in a great soup, sauce or save it for later!

Enjoy!
-m