Using it all up: making vegetable stock!

Part of this years' resolution was to use up the food we had, not to waste food.   As I peered into the fridge last night, I realised that we had a bag of baby carrots and a bunch of celery that was getting squiffy.

I checked over the onions on the counter and 3 of them were getting  funky.  I chopped up the onions and the celery, tossed them along with the carrots in canola oil, sprinkled them with kosher salt, pepper, and garlic and baked them at 250 for 2 hours.
After removing it from the oven, I covered the cooked veggies with 6 cups of hot water, covered it and let it sit over night.  I wanted to loosen all of the cooked on goodness.  This morning, I poured all of it into a stock pot, added 8 more cups of water, covered it and cooked it on low.   I added some Parisien Bonnes Herbe (about 2 tablespoons).

After I post this recipe, I'm going to go strain off the solids and pour the stock into a glass jar. Once it's room temp, I'll place it in the freezer and save it for the next time  I make soup!

 

Roasted Veggie Stock (makes about 6 cups)

• 1 lb baby carrots


• 1 lb celery, cleaned and roughly chopped


• 3 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped


• 2 tablespoons oil of your choice


• kosher salt, pepper and garlic to taste


• 2 tablespoons of your favorite seasoning (such as Parisien Bonnes Herbe  or Italian seasoning)


• 14 cups of water

Directions:

1. toss veggies in oil, and season with salt, pepper and garlic.  Bake in a 13x9 in pan at 250 degrees for 2 hours or until veggies are tender.


2. Remove pan from the oven and cover the cooked veggies with 6 cups of hot water, covered it with aluminum foil and let it sit until room temp.


3. Once the veggies and water are at room temp, pour all of it into a stock pot, add the last 8  cups of water, cover it and cook it on low for 3-4 hours. Add seasoning during cooking.


4. Strain off the solids and discard. Pour stock into a freezer proof container and store in the freezer until you are ready to use it!

 

I'll probably end up making vegetable noodle soup!

Re-purposing leftovers: making soup!

I'm a big fan of re-purposing leftovers. Instead of serving leftovers in their orignal form, adding ingredients and changing it up to make it a completely different meal.

Examples: Making Meat loaf into meatloaf sandwiches or adding tomatoes, onions and seasoning to leftover tomato basil soup to turn it into spaghetti sauce.

Today I am taking a leftover Rotisserie Chicken and making chicken and rice soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 rotisserie chicken carcass


• 1 Gallon of Water


• 2 cups rotisserie chicken, chopped


• 3 cups of chopped carrots, divided


• 2 large chopped onions


• the skins of the onions


• 2 cups of chopped celery, divided


• 1 clove of garlic


• 1/2 Teaspoon of Sriracha Sauce


• Salt and pepper to taste


• 3 Tablespoons of Mural of Flavor


• 1/2 Cup uncooked white rice

Directions

1. First I had my husband remove most of the meat from the carcass, the meat was chopped and set aside.


2. In a large stock pot, place the carcass, water, 1.5 cups of carrots, 1.5 cups of celery, all of the onions and onion skins, garlic, Sriracha and seasonings.


3. Cook on medium heat for 4-6 hours, until the veggies fall apart and the meat falls off the carcass.


4. Strain the solids off and discard them.


5. Return the yummy stock (liquid) to the stockpot.


6. Add the 2 cups of rotisserie chicken, remaining veggies, and rice


7. cook on medium until the rice is cooked stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Makes about 8 1-cup servings.  Serve with warm rolls.

 

The total cost for this soup was about $9.00.  This includes the cost of the chicken, but we got 3 meals out of the chicken.  The original chicken dinner with salad, hummus and carrot sticks.  The second meal was lunch today of a chicken quesadilla (yummy!), and finally the soup!