With more people eating plant based diets these days, the challenge in the cooking world and especially for restaurants is how to create great vegetable dishes without sacrificing the flavor.

Stocks and broths is the answer. The base for most stocks is mirepoix ,which is covered in the recipe index here, a mix of 2 parts onion to one part each of carrots and celery. To this we add a mix of other vegetables and herbs, cook it for about one hour and strain it. You don’t cook vegetable stocks – or broths as they should be called since they do not contain bones – very long as they can get slightly bitter. If you want a deeper flavor then reduce the strained stock to concentrate the flavors. All stocks on this site are made without salt as it will allow you to reduce them down without making them too salty. If you are trying to get an idea of how your stock really tastes, put a small amount in a cup and add a little salt, the flavors will pop right out.

Using the vegetable stocks we can make a large amount of soups vegetarian and have them taste great.

Here are a couple of different ways of making a basic vegetable stock – one simple and easy and one a little more complex but very flavorful. There is also a post with dark roasted vegetable stock which is really flavorful but a little too dark for cream soups and light colored dishes.

Vegetable stock

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Recipe by admin

Servings

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Calories

kcal

Total time

0

minutes

Here are 2 ways of making a vegetable stock. The first method is easy and often used in restaurants where vegetable scraps, ends and peels are all utilized to extract some flavor.
The second method takes extra work but yields a more flavorful stock.
As with all the other stock recipes, these do not include salt for the obvious reason that you can reduce the stock and concentrate the flavors without ending up with a too salty result. The stocks will taste quite mild but if you scoop some into a small cup and add a little salt, the flavor will pop.

Ingredients

• 8 cups 8 water

• 2 Tbs 2 vegetable oil

• 2 cups 2 onions

• 1 cups 1 carrots

• 1/2 cup 1/2 leeks

• 1/2 cup 1/2 parsnips

• 1/2 cup 1/2 celery root

• 1/2 cup 1/2 mushrooms

• 1 clove 1 garlic

• 2 sprigs 2 parsley

• 2 whole 2 bay leaf

• 1 tsp 1 thyme

• 6 whole 6 black pepper

Directions

• Method 1
• Wash and dice your vegetables about 2 inch dice. Add all the vegetables, seasoning and water to the stock pot and bring to a boil – immediately lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer stock for 60 minutes then strain twice. This is a basic quick and easy way to make vegetable stock and it will be the lightest in taste and color.
  
• Method 2
• Wash and dice your vegetables to 1 inch dice.
  
• Heat the oil in your stock pot on medium , add the vegetables and stir while cooking. Cook for 5-8 minutes until the vegetables are transparent and fragrant but do not brown. Add the water and seasoning.
• Bring the stock to a boil and immediately lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 60 minutes and strain twice.

Equipment

• Cutting board, peeler, paring knife, measuring cups and spoons, stock pot, large spoon, strainer

Notes

• Variation 1 of this vegetable stock is to add 2-3 ears of corn roughly chopped up and cook until you can mash it a bit. It is a great base for corn chowder or other corn soups.
• Variation 2 is to cook 4-6 cups of asparagus ends and trim in the vegetable stock. When the stock is done and asparagus is soft, puree it in a blender and strain well. Great base for cream of asparagus soup.