Souped up Vegetable Stock

I’ve been busy simmer and slurping over here, trying to devise a real recipe rather than a loose method for you stock beginners out there.

We are still in the thick of winter here-  woolly socks, soups and snuggly blankets are still very real.

February was a fickle month for me, while it comes with a bracing new beginnings, it is soon followed with an inescapable lull. I’ve mentioned “hurry up and wait” before on the blog, and there is no better example than the winter months. For what seems like ages, we prep, cook, dance, give gifts, laugh and run around from gathering to get-together. Now that we have proof of surviving winter’s deepest darkness, our body are hollering for a break.

This weekend take a day to yourself and throw this on the stove. It’s the stock that will save you in what may the longest days of winter of all.

Best Basic Vegetable Stock 

3-4 kale stalks, stripped of their leaves

2 small onions, and extra onion skins

4-5 cloves of garlic, skin on

1 large carrot, cut into three pieces

half of a red pepper

2 stalks of celery, leaves included

1 tsp of sea salt

½ tsp of whole black peppercorns

3 springs of fresh oregano

2 stalk of fresh rosemary

1 small stalk of crushed lemongrass

Combine all ingredients in a deep stock pot, add in 8 cups of filtered water.

Bring to a boil on medium heat, turn to lowest setting and let simmer for 3-4 hours. Run through sieve and package into glass mason jars. Use within 3-4 days for best flavour. Alternatively, you can let the stock cool and freeze it for a maximum of 4 months.

The easiest way to put veggie stock together is to save your scraps throughout the week, I keep mine in a produce bag or a freezer bag depending on how flexible my stock cooking schedule is for the week.

Enjoy!