I freeze the scraps of vegetables I’m cooking for other meals. When I have enough I throw them in a pot and make a stock out of them! This way I can control the vegetables going into my food. And it’s a great way to reduce food waste!
Ingredients:
Onion Peels : the outer layers of the onion that are too tough to throw in your regular meal and the peels. They add nice colour to the stock
Cabbage Core: after cutting the tender pieces off you’re left with this huge tough core. That piece is like concentrated cabbage flavour!
Broccoli Stalk: the base of the stalk is an easy way to get good flavour. You can use the florets too if they’ve gotten too dry or wilted for cooking.
Asparagus: toss the woody stumps of the asparagus in the stock instead of the garbage. It seems asparagus goes bad quickly. So if you have some wilted pieces- use them too!
Zucchini: overgrown zucchini? Use the tender parts for your regular meals and keep the peels and tough bits for your stalk! Not the seeds tho!
Peas and Beans: I usually nip off the stems and ends of my peas and beans. Using them in the stock is a good way to not feel guilty about being picky!
Bell Peppers: the fleshy white pieces of the peppers you cut off are good for flavour. You could add the seeds and such too and strain them out later
Carrot Peels: this ones a no brainer. You can use the ends also. If you’ve forgotten the carrot in the bottom of your crisper for a few days too long and it’s looking a little dry and withered you can use that too.
Peppercorn: a good way to season the stock without leaving any grains behind
Garlic Peels: everything is better with garlic. Just not too much garlic. The peels are very overpowering in large doses.
Bay Leaf: if you’re like me, you’ll throw bay in almost anything. If you save and freeze the leaf after it’s cooked in one meal you can get a little more flavour out of it once more.
I really hope this goes without saying but if your vegetables are moldy- don’t use it. By withered and dry I mean they look sad and aren’t ideal to eat on their own but they’re still safe to extract flavour from. If you use rotten vegetables your stalk will taste rotten. Duh!
These are just the vegetables I have tested out that work well in a stock. I’ve tried a few other that didn’t taste right or made the stock weird textures. I don’t suggest using potato skins unless you’re willing to have your stock turn cloudy and starchy. I’ve tried cucumber skins but they didn’t taste right. It’s al trial and error. Make it your own!