Food Waste
Growing up, one sure way to receive a stern reprimand from my folks was to waste food. Although this wasn’t a common issue for a family of boys with solid appetites, none of us were allowed to get up from the table until every scrap, scrape, and morsel had been eaten. On the rare occasion that our mother wanted to “experiment” with a new dish, that meal typically concluded with a few sour faces as we tried to figure out how to make those last painful bites disappear (usually under the folded wings of the dining room table).
Like most children who “suffer” such trials, however, I ended up torturing my own family with similar experimental meals along with the same rules about wasting food.
Not wasting food can be a challenge but one that is increasingly important as food prices rise and household budgets shrink. When a diet consists of fresh produce, meats, and other goods not artificially preserved, you have the additional challenge of using good food in time!
In this semi-regular blog series, I’ll offer some suggestions for eliminating food waste as much as possible. In many cases, I’ll be learning along the way too and sharing the answers I find when answering some of my kitchen questions. Can mushrooms be frozen? How long before spices expire? What do I do with those funky veggies that came in my CSA?
In addition to saving money, I hope that this series will help you actually enjoy the challenge of eliminating food waste!
So make room in your freezer, dust off your vacuum sealer, and grab a meal planner! We’re going to explore the deepest corners of refrigerator drawers and pantries to find those about-to-expire artifacts and ingredients that haven’t yet found a recipe to call home.
Sincerely,
Kris Purzycki
Easy Vegetable Broth
Kicking off this series is a recipe for vegetable stock, a simple, yet versatile base that can be used for soups or any recipe that requires water.
Equal parts onion, carrots, and celery - the foundation of any good broth!
At the most basic level, this stock is made from a few simple ingredients: carrots, onions, and celery in equal parts. Potatoes, turnips, and other root vegetables may also be added as well as a variety of other veggies you have on hand. I’d recommend staying away from broccoli, bok choy, and other veggies in the cabbage family as that can make your stock bitter.
Salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, and garlic cloves are excellent spices to add. I typically don’t add these unless I’m using the stock right away. Otherwise, if the stock is going to be frozen for a later time, I’m sure to forget which spices were added. Veggie stock can be used in a number of recipes and so I try to avoid any unintentional spices or additional salt. My favorite use of this recipe is on camping trips. Using up the scraps is a good base for a dinnertime stew.
Other than its versatility, the other reason I love this stock is that it may be made from peelings and other vegetable scraps! As long as those leftover bits are rinsed off, you’ll get much of the same flavor. I also avoid the tops of carrots, onions, and the outer celery leaves to avoid bitterness. For this same reason, the peelings of root vegetables like potatoes should be used sparingly and thoroughly washed. Freeze your scraps - discarded onion layers and carrot peels, as well as certain parts of celery bunches (inner stalks and leaves are awesome!) - in an airtight container. Once the container is filled up (in about a month), it’s time to make the stock!
Onions and garlic that were about to hit that eat-by date.
Chop up vegetables into large chunks. Just so everything fits evenly into a good-sized stock pot. If using spices, toss those in as well.
Fill the pot with enough water to cover veggies.
Bring to high heat and turn down to a simmer just before the water begins to boil.
Simmer for about an hour, stirring a few times along the way. Unlike a bone broth or other meat-based stock, a veggie broth shouldn’t be simmered for too long or else it will become bitter. Whenever you give the stock a stir, give it a taste test - no bitterness!
Once your stock has got a good flavor, turn off the heat.
Pour the stock into another container using a colander, sieve, or cheesecloth to strain out the chunks.
If you’re not using your stock right away, store it in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for a few months.
Right into the fridge to bring the temperature down asap.
I like to experiment with this basic recipe - adding miscellaneous veggies and scraps of whatever I have. To be honest, this stock never tastes the same twice because the ingredients are always different. That's part of the joy of making stock, however! If the stock becomes bitter, I’ll be sure to use the stock in a recipe that can balance out the flavors. Adding some sweeter ingredients (like tomato paste) can help cut the bitterness. The stock I made for this post, which I'm going to use for a spicy black bean soup, was smidge sweeter than usual from the carrots.
Thanks for reading!
