Easy-Peasy Veggie Broth

When we first started cooking mostly-vegetarian meals, I used to grumble to Tom that vegetarians and vegans must hate food. My evidence was: vital wheat gluten, seitan, and the flavor of canned or boxed vegetable broth.  Bad, bad semi-vegetarian.

But it turns out that making your own vegetable stock is easy, cheap, and relatively quick. You will never again have to pay $2.99 a box for something that tastes like boiled grass flavored with soy sauce (yes, I’m talking to you, Wolfgang Puck.) Next time you notice some wilting celery and carrots in the crisper while doing your weekend fridge cleaning, simmer up some stock for later. It will keep in the fridge for about a week, or you can freeze it for later use. Not cooking vegetarian? Honestly, I think this fresh vegetable broth will work better in many recipes than the strange flavor of most canned beef broth. Give it a try.

My version of vegetable stock owes something to both the Everything Vegetarian and the Daily Soup recipes, depending on what I have in the house and what I’m planning to use the stock for. 

Rules of Thumb for veggie stock:

1. You can make this with only onion, garlic, carrots, and celery and some sort of seasoning (salt and pepper at least – parsley, etc., if you want.) A note on celery: I don’t care for it myself, but I haven’t found anything else that provides the depth of flavor it adds to vegetable stock. 
2. Other standby additions: chopped tomato, one potato (adds body), dried mushrooms thyme, parsley, bay leaf – fresh bouquet garni if you have all the ingredients on-hand. Everyday Vegetarian likes a lot of parsley, and soy sauce. It’s the time of year to throw in what’s left of the fresh herbs in the garden before winter.
3. Don’t include strong flavors (broccoli, cabbage).

I made veggie broth last night, which will be the base for the minestrone we’re having tonight.  Doesn’t the final result look rich?

Veggie Broth

• 3 large carrots, washed well or peeled, and chopped coarsely
• 3 celery stalks, washed and chopped coarsely
• 2 medium potatoes (any style), washed well and chopped coarsely
• 1 large onion or two medium onions, peeled and chopped coarsely
• 3-4 garlic cloves (you don’t even have to peel them)
• Half yellow bell pepper, seeded, washed, and chopped coarsely (green pepper is too much flavor for my taste, but a little bit of a milder bell pepper is OK.)
• One medium yellow winter squash, washed and chopped coarsely
• Dried mushrooms, about a half-cup. (we have the cheap variety you can find in Chinatown – nothing exciting or expensive.)
  
  Seasonings (also see point 2 above. This is what I used:)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• A couple of stems of fresh oregano
• A few stems of fresh parsley
• A couple of fresh basil leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  
• 10 cups of water (or a little more if needed to cover vegetables in pan.)

Put everything in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes. An hour is even better. 

Allow broth to cool slightly. Strain into a bowl or other container using a colander or strainer. If you don’t mind a cloudy broth, you can use a potato masher to squeeze more flavor out of the vegetables as you drain the liquid. Discard or compost the cooked vegetables.

That’s it! Refrigerate or freeze and use in any recipe calling for vegetable broth. The flavor is very mild and almost disappointing if you try a teaspoonful of it, but it made a huge difference in my soups and sauces.  Next up: minestrone (which is bubbling on the stove as I type).