Vegetable Stock

I've returned to the land of the living.

I have a crockpot full of simmering vegetable broth and a pantry full of soup ingredients. I had a serious craving for red lentils tonight so I dashed out to the co-op. I didn't realize till halfway there that I was going to get caught in that blizzard I'd heard about.

I wouldn't usually risk my life for a pound of red lentils and some odds and ends, but at least now I've got all the ingredients for 4 nights of soup.

(Sorry for the lack of pics, but my computer crashed a few weeks ago and all my pictures and pic editing software won't be returned to me till Tuesday.)

Vegetable stock is so great- a vitamin pill in liquid form. I'd rather give my kids a good vegetable stock a couple times a week than spend money on vitamins! Well, I do that, too, but only as an insurance policy. You know, for months when morning sickness and irrational cravings consume me....

Also, this is much wiser than a method by a certain famous 'cooker' who likes to boil and mash up vegetables and hide them in things. Once you've boiled a veggie, remember that the waste water is more mineral-rich than the veggie. Don't toss the water!

It's also a great way to benefit from veggies your family doesn't love- in my case onions and celery. Sigh.

Quick and Easy Vegetable Stock
(all ingredients are per quart of water)
4" strip of Kombu
1/2 onion
2 carrots, scrubbed and coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery
3 cloves garlic
2t unrefined salt
3 bay leaves
other spices and veggies to taste (skip or go easy on the cabbage family)

Toss in the crock pot and fill with water (filtered is always preferable). Simmer on high for 8-10 hours or low for 12-14 hours. Adjust salt to taste. Strain into a clean jar. Keeps up to a week in the back of the fridge, or else freeze.

Use this in place of water in any recipe you can- rice, sauces, whatever- for an awesome vitamin and mineral boost.

For a quick and nutritious soup, boil a potato and some greens in this broth. Stir 1T Miso into soup after it has been ladled into the bowls. Yum.


"A smile confuses an approaching frown."
~Author Unknown