Homemade vegetable soup stock filled with flavor and nutrients from various vegetables, scraps and herbs. For great flavour add at least one of the optional ingredients listed (miso paste, tomato products or Parmesan rind). For more helpful tips and answers to common questions check the full article.
Stir together coarsely chopped vegetables, vegetable peelings, fridge veggies, tomato sauce, herbs, vinegar, miso paste and spices in large soup pot. Add Parmesan rind if using.
Cover with 8-10 cups cold water so that everything is covered by no more than one inch of water.
Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and set lid askew or remove entirely to allow more liquid to evaporate and get a more concentrated stock. Simmer for 40 minutes.
Taste at various stages (careful it will be really hot!) to see how it is progressing.
Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes at least before straining through a mesh strainer. For even finer soup, pour through cheesecloth.
Either use right away or cool and store in a refrigerator.
Keep in fridge for 4 days. Freeze in convenient portion sizes for 6-12 months.
Makes 6-8 cups of stock depending on lid on or off, amount of water to start, type of veggies and how long it simmers.
Notes
Miso Paste- adds great umami flavour to this stock, if you can't find any use extra mushrooms, Parmesan rind, seaweed or nutritional yeast (3 Tbsp). *Potato or sweet potato peels will make stock cloudy. **Tomato products will change the overall flavor of your stock, but add nice body. ***Limit strong tasting vegetables so they don't overpower the flavor of your stock (beets, broccoli, fennel, asparagus, rutabaga, parsnips, cabbage, cauliflower etc.) Starchy veggies like potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash will make your stock cloudy. ****Make this in a crock pot. Simply toss everything in a crock-pot, turn to low and cook for 8 hours (4-5 hours on high).Nutrient content will vary based on ingredients used.