The Whole Wheat

SOUP WEEK, DAY 1

Vegetable stock is ridiculously easy and comes together very quickly. Not only that but you can vary the ingredients to fit the soup du jour, or simply whip up a more general batch for all sorts of daily uses: cooking rice, farro, risotto, sauces, and on & on! One of my dear friends also reduces vegetable stock and uses it often as a finishing sauce – it works beautifully this way too!

Today I want to share with you my go-to vegetable stock recipe. This recipe has never failed me and I have performed numerous variations on it, all with great success. The inspiration and most of the guidelines here are from one of my favorite books: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison.

My hope is that you will be inspired to try making your very own version of vegetable stock, and be able to do away with the store bought version forever! Good luck, and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, discard outer papery skin
• 2 large carrots
• 2 celery ribs, include leaves if you have them
• 1 T olive oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 T nutritional yeast (optional – this adds extra flavor but is not necessary)
• 8 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 8 parsley branches
• 6 thyme sprigs or 1/2 t. dried
• 2 bay leaves
• salt

1. Scrub the vegetables and chop them into 1-inch chunks. This is not an exact science, do it quickly and don’t fret.
2. Heat oil in a stock pot over medium. Add the onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté about 10-15 minutes until the onions have a nice deep color. This is the base flavor for your stock so let the onions really develop some color here.
3. Add the remaining ingredients except salt. Continue cooking another few (2-3) minutes to combine flavors.
4. Add 2 t. salt and 2 quarts cold water. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain into a bowl or container. (Try to strain the stock immediately as leaving vegetables in the stock after cooking can impart a bitter flavor)
5. Use immediately or cool and refrigerate. Discard the vegetables and herbs that were strained out.