Vegan Pantry Staples (Part III)
Hello friends! As promised in my last post, I have a list of ingredients along with a quick recipe for this third part of my Vegan Pantry Staples series. We now know that it is a good idea to stock up a particular set of beans, legumes, grains, tofu & tempeh to create so many varieties of vegan dishes. In fact, many a times I end up cooking some quick impromptu items just because I did not have any recipe in my mind but had these wonderful ingredients handy! Most of these items can be bought at once for weeks!
So next main essential item to keep stocked is a stock itself! Vegetable stock, Yes! Having vegetable stock is a must for vegan kitchens as it is used as a base for countless recipes, including soups, risottos and stews. For times when making your own vegetable stock isn’t possible, being able to source a stock cube from the pantry can make life a lot easier.
For those who have the time and the inclination to make vegetable stock, though, the reward is in the flavor. Making it is simple and can be a good way to use parts of vegetables that we may usually discard. To do this, wash and save the stalks, leaves, peelings, roots and ends of vegetables after using them, and keep them in a bag or container in the freezer. Your homemade vegetable stock can be a life changing habit in vegan cooking, check the recipe below.
Homemade Vegetable Stock
Ingredients
- 1 Large Onion
- 1 Stick Celery
- 1 Carrot
- 2 Litres Water (2 litres for every 4 cups of vegetables)
- 4 cups Vegetables as desired (with peelings, roots, leaves, etc leftovers)
- Mixed herbs (optional)
Instructions
- Add the roughly chopped onions, celery, carrots to a large pot (these should be the base of all vegetable socks). The add some of the vegetable discard from your freezer bag, or other vegetables as desired. Add fresh herbs as desired.
- Add water to the pot using the general rule that 4 cupsof vegetables make 2 litres of stock. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to the boil, and then cover and allow to simmer for an hour or more (the longer the better).
- Strain the stock using a sieve and allow to cool, before storing in an air tight container, in a fridge or freezer.
My favorite few dishes in which I love to use homemade vegetable stock are Mixed Veg & Herb Pasta, Veg Soup, Tomato Soup, Mushroom Risotto, in my Rajma or Chhole, Chana and all the things that have gravy.. Really! This stock makes the dishes so flavorful and yummy, with no extra time and effort!
Would love to hear your ideas and recipe of the stock that you store. And about are your favorite market-sourced stocks.
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Vegan Pantry Staples (Part II)
