The Whole Wheat

I’ve made no secret that I love vegetable stock! Its quick, tasty, super easy, and healthy. What’s not to like???

To help kick off 2008, here is a fresh version where I roasted the vegetables before making the stock. The results were a richer flavored and more deeply colored stock! This recipe does take an additional 30-60 minutes to roast the veggies though, so plan ahead if you want to make soup the same evening.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 onions, quartered but no need to peel
• 4 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (~1″ chunks)
• 4 celery stalks, roughly chopped (~1″ chunks)
• 1-2 potatoes, scrubbed and roughly chopped (~1″ chunks)
• 6 cloves of garlic or 3 shallots, unpeeled
• 1/4 c. dried shitakes (optional)
• 10 sprigs parsley
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 10 peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Combine onion, carrots, celery, potato, and shallots or garlic in a roasting pan. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper, then mix to coat. Roast for about 45 minutes or until veggies have developed a brown color. Mix several times while cooking.
3. Meanwhile add 1-2 c. of boiling water to the mushrooms to soften them.
4. Transfer the vegetables to a stock pot. Add all remaining ingredients (including mushrooms and their liquid) and 2 qts of water. Bring to a boil.
5. Add 2 c. of water to the roasting pan and place over high heat on the stove. Bring to a boil and scrape up all the bits of veggies that stuck to the pan. Add up to 2 more cups of water as needed. Add the total of 4 c. water and the veggie scrapings to the stock pot as well.
6. Once the stock begins to boil, partially cover and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes until veggies are soft.
7. Strain and discard all vegetables and herbs. Use immediately or allow to cool then refrigerate.