Day 288: No Waste Leek Stock ◄

Contemplating homemade vegetable stock, I struggle with whether the vegetables are actually going to waste.

But what's the one vegetable that all cooks always throw away half to three-quarters of?

Leeks, of course. The green stalks are tough and inedible and recipes always specify, 'white and light green parts only'.

So after making this soup, just to see what would happen and with nothing to lose, I threw the leftover leek stalks into a pot along the leftover peels from a russet potato.

The result? A lovely, sweetish, onionish stock.

And absolutely no waste.

NO WASTE LEEK STOCK
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Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time to table: 1 hour
Made 4 cups

8 cups water
Peelings from a potato (optional, I suspect)
'Green parts' from 5 leeks, roughly chopped

Start the water to bring to a boil. Add the potato peels and leeks and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for about 45 minutes.

(c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade
Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. I'm curious as to what you think you're going to do with the leek stock? I toss my leek greens in the freezer, and then pull a couple out to toss in the pot when I make stock- but It never occurred to me to make a leek stock.

    And I have to recommend mushrooms for a veggie stock. I used some shiitakes recently, and couldn't bear with tossing the stems, so I saved them for stock, and made a fantastic veggie broth using them. They add a real depth and earthiness.

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  2. I've been throwing it into everything this week, it's just a lovely light stock. But I LOVE your mushroom idea -- look for that one soon, especially because the stems would otherwise be wasted ("free food") and vegetable stocks are a 'hole' I hope to fill in the next xx days!

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  3. i just made a stock with the green parts of two leeks, leftover portobellos, and leftover sweet pea shells. it came out awesome. the lentil soup was extra good this week!! thanks for the advice!

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna