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By Lori Meszaros, Recent Arizona State University Nutrition Student 

I love making everything from scratch. I guess that love came from following my grandmother around the kitchen watching her make everything from scratch. My grandfather would pick the fresh veggies from their garden, then I’d bring them to her and watch her work her magic, creating some of the best dishes I remember eating as a kid. There’s just nothing like homemade.

This veggie stock comes from whole fresh ingredients you can easily find at your local farmer’s market, and most are in season year round in Arizona. The recipe makes around 2 pints and can be stored in glass jars in the freezer for up to 6 months, that is if you don’t use it all up before then. I use mine right from the freezer, no need to defrost before use because the stock doesn’t freeze solid.

Try making your own batch and taste the difference homemade makes in your next dish. Here are some of my favorite recipes I use the stock in-

Homemade Black Bean Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

Chicken Orzo Soup

Check out Fill Your Plate recipes for more great recipe ideas.

Fresh Ingredients

1 brown onion

4-6 garlic cloves

4 celery stalks

2 carrots

1 tomato

1 large zucchini

1 bay leaf

½ cup each (handful), fresh parsley and basil

1 sprig each, sage and rosemary, stem and leaves

½ cup sea salt

To make the concentrate…

• Dice onion, garlic, celery and carrots, then add to a large sauce pan and sauté for 3 minutes
• In a food processor, chop carrots, tomato, zucchini and herbs, then add to the pan
• Add in the salt and a little water (½ cup tops to start) to the pan and bring to a boil
• Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes adding a little water only if needed to cook veggies until soft
• Once veggies are soft, blend until smooth with a stick blender
  • This can also be done in a food processor or high speed blender, just make sure the veggie stock has cooled off a bit before blending to avoid over heating the motor.