This stock is a great alternative to chicken or beef stock. Make use of the wilted vegetables in your refrigerator.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 large onions, chopped in large pieces
• 2 large leeks
• 3 stalks of celery, with leaves, chopped
• 5 carrots, washed but unpeeled, chopped
• 1 whole bulb of garlic
• 1 pound spinach or kale leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 pound white mushrooms (this is perfect for that bag of dried up mushrooms in your refrigerator)
• 10 black peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 Tbs fresh thyme
• 1 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 quarts water

Direction

1. Cut the leeks in half, lengthwise, pull apart and clean thoroughly to remove the mud.
2. In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onion and leeks and sauté until the onions just begin to turn gold.
4. Break up the whole bulb of garlic into individual cloves, but don't chop.
5. Add the garlic to the onions and leeks. Stir and cook for one minute.
6. Place the celery and carrots in the pot. Stir and cook for one minute.
7. Add the spinach or kale leaves, mushrooms, spices and water. The vegetables should be covered by water, if not add more water. Stir and cover.
8. Raise the heat to high and bring the water to a boil.
9. Immediately lower the heat and simmer the vegetables for one hour.
10. Have ready a strainer and another large pot. You can use a colander lined with cheese cloth.
11. Pour the stock into the strainer.
12. After the stock has cooled you can pour into freezable containers. It will be ready whenever you need it.

Note: You can use the cooked vegetables for a soup. Purée them to make a creamy textured soup.
This recipe may vary depending upon what you have in your refrigerator. Do you have 3 carrots and 6 stalks of celery? Adjust to your needs.

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Cristina Vaamonde

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