Homemade Vegetable Stock

We are going to make a lot of soup this winter. A lot. And it is so nice not to have to purchase broth or bouillon or stock (because it is literally a kitchen waste product and you can make it at home with your compost).

So, save your vegetable skins, onion skins, garlic bits, carrot tops, even wilted lettuce: THAT'S RIGHT! EVEN WILTED LETTUCE. I am trying the new tactic of having a tupperware in my fridge that keeps my vegetable compost for a few days until I am ready to make stock.

First step: put all of your vegetable trash in a pot. Since I know I want to use this for a pho recipe that I am making tomorrow, I even put in some wild shit like ginger skins. Be mindful of what you want to make, for example, if you are making a delicate butternut squash soup, I wouldn't put red beet tops in your stock unless you want a pink colored soup. So...be a bit mindful. The no-fail ingredients are carrots, onions, garlic, celery-- in this one you see pictured I also have old cabbage, wilted Napa cabbage and old turnips.

Second step: cover your veggies with water completely!

Third Step: Simmer your submerged veggies for about two hours, covered.

Fourth Step: Drain the veggie chunks out of the stock. (Look how steamy! Mmmmm!)

Congratulations! You now have vegetable stock for any occasion! Let this cool and use it in any recipe that calls for broth! :)

(Tomorrow we will use this particular stock for vegetable pho!)

Homemade Blackbeans

This is a STAPLE PEOPLE :)
I make a batch of beans, usually black beans every week. They cost around $1.79 per pound dry, and then they keep in the fridge for about a week-- not to mention how many uses they have: an arepa topping, taco or enchilada filling, they can go in soups or chili or with eggs for breakfast; the list goes on and on.

For this recipe you will need:

A slowcooker(!!)
4 cups of dry black beans
1 medium onion (diced)
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1/2 tablespoon of cumin
Salt to taste

First, rinse your black beans in a colander and go through them-- sometimes I find little stones and such mixed in, so this is an important step. The last thing you want is to bite into your steaming, delicious slow-cooked black beans and break a tooth. I used to skip this step because I like to go fast, and then OTHER people would bite into little rocks and I would feel so horrible that the guilt and shame alone of being too lazy to take the extra step and possibly cracking my guest's crowns gets me to rinse them each and every time now.

SO DO THAT.

Now, put your rinsed beans and diced onion in your slow cooker and cover with water completely. I usually put double the amount of water in (so 8 cups)

DO NOT PUT ANY SALT IN AT THIS POINT. NONE. ZERO. ABSOLUTELY NO SALT. It will keep your beans from getting soft; no one likes crunchy beans.

SLOW COOK.
I cook them (covered*) on low for 8-10 hours, stirring every couple of hours and checking the water level. You are going to have the opportunity to drain them before you use them in any recipe so you can't over-water them while they are slow-cooking...

About an hour before the slow cook cycle is up (say at hour 9) and maybe you have an intention to eat them inside of a taco or something, at this point I stir in the cumin, minced garlic and I salt it to my liking.

DELICIOUS.

Eat them hot and seasoned...

Or drain off 90% the liquid, put them on the stove on medium low heat and mash with chili, cumin, garlic, salt and a hint of lime for "refried beans."

...or let them cool and put them in the fridge in a sealed container until you are ready to use them in another amazing and delicious dish!

Groceries and Produce

Though I am very lucky to be marrying a farmer...

who brings me home all kinds of ridiculous organic produce all season long, I realize the two of you don't have that privilege (though I try to share!!)-- I DO** however grocery shop sometimes. So allow me to lay down how I attack groceries

When at the grocer the first questions I attend to are:

1.) Is it in season? 2.) Is it organic? 3.) Does it matter?

Though it is always better to support organic agriculture (vote with your dollars!!) there are somethings you can buy conventional, namely produce with thick skins (avocados, citrus, mangoes, kiwi, bananas).

AJ and I do not consume much tropical produce, but we are avocado fiends.

**Also, I realize buying seasonal means you can't have apples in the summer and you'll miss tomatoes in the winter. This is a bummer, I know, but once you get over the general spoiled state of our Whole-Foods-everything-in-abundance-all-of-the-time-culture, you'll realize not only are  you making a conscious choice, but it is cheaper AND it keeps you out of cooking-ruts. It is exciting to cook beets when they are in-season, but then you get sick of them! Same with everything, consuming this way keeps the flare in your food so that you are never saying "Don't we always have kale?!?"

-What I buy at the grocery store-

Since you have already begun stocking your cupboard with the previous posting, you know that I it is is always smart to keep carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, lemons, limes and seasonal fresh herbs on-hand about 100% percent of the time in my kitchen.

Beyond that, in terms of fresh produce, I always buy seasonal greens, seasonal veggies and seasonal fruit.

Do you know when things are in season???

Spring

Spring onions

Turnips

Radishes

Micro-greens

Artichokes

Chard

Rhubarb

Asparagus

Sorrel

Spinach

Summer

Tomatoes

Basil

Beets 

Peppers

Summer squash

Soybeans

Eggplant

Green beans

Lettuce

Corn

Fall Into Winter

Kale

Pumpkin

Acorn Squash

Butternut squash

Brussel sprouts

Beets

Winter ( and Year Round)

Broccoli

Cabbage

Asian greens

Parsnips

Mushrooms

Potatoes

Leeks

Celeriac

Onions

Buy a few things that are in season in addition to your staples.

Also, milk (almond milk) cheese (I either get Daiya vegan "cheeze" or a mild Mexican farmer's cheese, unless I know something specific I am making or want, yogurt and butter.

Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. 

Also bread, cereal (there will be future recipes for granola and hot cereal) and other necessary oddities you may like.

I always keep a variety of fermented things in my fridge including kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles, pickled hot peppers-- these are good when you for when you are making a simple salad or korean dish and need that extra zing to make your meal hit a home run. 

And that's it!! And then I go home for less than 100 dollars every week and eat like royalty. Find your groove and you'll figure out what you like to have around to feel like you can whip up anything anytime.