Homemade Vegetable Broth

Stock ingredients for homemade vegetable broth

So, despite what my blogger profile may say, I actually moved outside of NYC this January to Union City, new jersey. (De-emphasis very intentional.)

Union City, which is just outside of Hoboken, is the most densely populated city in the United States and has been for over a decade. Its population is over 84% Hispanic or Latino. Like most areas immediately outside of Manhattan, this is a low income area. And the grocery stores and other food options reflect these factors greatly. Which is cool if you're into empanadas. Or like a very big variety of corn, which I can appreciate. Less cool if you are eating vegetarian. 

The grocery stores in walking distance from me (and I am willing to walk over a mile for my groceries) simply do not carry many of the food products that I consider basic needs, which have always been easily available to me in other areas. Here's a brief list of some of the products that I have not been able to find:

Parmesan or similar hard Italian cheeses
Fresh mozzarella
Low-fat organic milk
Coke Zero
Shallots
Fresh sage
Fresh basil
Bread (pretty much I can only find small rolls or slice packaged bread loaves)
Butternut Squash
Zucchini & squash
Mushrooms
Risotto
Vegetable Broth

Really, the list goes on and on. But the mischievous item that I could not get my hands on, which was the inspiration behind this post, is vegetable broth. Yes, this very basic simple product that is made by many mainstream food manufacturers is no where to be found in walking distance from my house! In fact, the concept of wanting soup stock without meat seemed pretty foreign to the managers of my two regular grocery stores. 

Since vegetable broth is something I need for multiple dishes I plan to cook this week (risotto, couscous, potato leek soup), last night I decided to make my own broth from the vegetables I had on hand. 

Why have I never done this before?!? Probably because in the past I always used chicken broth and the idea of making that is gross (not like that stopped my mom). Well, now that I know how simple and gratifying it is to make my own, I'm pretty sure my days of buying store brand broth are over.

The vegetables I had laying around to toss into the pot: carrots, mushrooms, leeks, red onion, yellow onion, red pepper, and fresh parsley. I also tossed in salt, pepper, peppercorns and a pinch of dried tarragon. Why tarragon? I don't know. I just thought I'd throw it in.

I filled this large pot rather high with water, which I thought might be an issue, but really the broth came out much more concentrated than I expected. At one point, we noticed an unpleasant sulfuresque smell emerging from the simmering stock, which I think may have come from the mushrooms. In time it subsided and the broth began to smell like delicious roasted vegetable soup. 

I cooked the broth for a little over two hours. I then removed the vegetables and strained the broth through a clean paper towel - my substitute for cheese cloth or coffee filters. Worked fine. The broth came out a dark caramel color, and I will probably dilute it a bit when cooking the risotto, but will leave it be for the potato leek soup. Next time I think I will make a larger quantity, as this batch is only going to get me through three dinners! 


I tossed the vegetables from the stock, which seemed wasteful but I didn't know what else to do with them. Anyone have any good ideas for a use of boiled veggies? Or are they nutritionally void once the stock is complete? I considered saving them to mix with my dog's food, but I know dogs should not eat onions and didn't feel like researching each of the other vegetables so that idea went out the window. 


This experience, brought to me by my vegetarian experiment, was definitely a positive one. Here's looking forward to the next surprise going veg brings me!!