DIY Vegetable Stock

My life has changed completely when it comes to soup stock. I’ve made a few batches of this now, most recently included a Chinook salmon head from when I won a free salmon from Cascade Organic, LLC here in Portland! They’ve been bringing people locally sourced, common sense food for over a decade. Cascade Organic is proud to work with local family fisherman and Native Americans to provide the freshest seafood available!

So, GET WEIRD. Gather up some veggies and let’s get cooking!

Stock are great because you can basically use whatever you want. Feel free to substitute for whatever vegetables you have on hand or what you enjoy the most.

• lots of veggies! I used carrots, celery, green, red and yellow onions, sweet peppers, potatoes both white and sweet, shallots; but you can also add mushrooms, green beans, leeks, fennel and whatever else you want (save the ends of potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and other veggies and freeze them to stockpile for this purpose AND reduce food waste)
• 12-16 cups water
• salt, pepper, thyme and other spices (to taste)
• 1-2 bay leaves
• fish head (optional, but oooooh so flavourful! )

1. Preheat oven to 425F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

2. Rough cut all your veggies; root, stem and everything in between and throw them into the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes.

3. If you’re using a fish head like me, you can add 12-16 cups of water to a stock pot and submerge the head. Simmer over low heat until the veggies are ready to come out of the oven; otherwise.. get the pot ready for the veggies!

4. Add the roasted vegetables, season to taste and allow to simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until the stock get a rich brown colour. Your house is going to smell AMAZING.

5. Strain the pieces of vegetables out of the stock using a fine mesh sieve and allow to cool before storing.

I put most of it in the freezer so I can use it when I need it, but its great to have small amount on hand in the fridge to use in place of water in other recipes. Use within one week or store in the freezer for up to 6 months.

The first time I made it, I used my NutriBullet after everything was boiled down and then strained it in a nut bag, this turned out to be an unnecessary step, but feel free to do it if you want the extra fiber!

ENJOY!

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