GARBAGE SOUP

Good intentions. That’s what happens every spring when I think this will be the year of the vegetable garden. Yet every year is fraught with the same disappointment. Year in and year out, my dream home grown vegetables are an epic fail.

Herbs. How difficult can they be to grow? Apparently in my garden, it is as impossible as vegetables. Sadly, not even a basil plant survives my brown thumb. My lack of success could be the reason why my annual pitch for a raised bed garden falls on deaf ears with DH. Confronted with the reality that I’m neither an urban gardener nor a container gardener, vegetables must be harvested from some other source than my backyard. This, of course, is more expensive.

To make the most of vegetable purchases, use every part of the vegetable. Vegetables such as zucchini, squash, potatoes, carrots, onion and peppers can be frozen. If not consumed before spoiling, wash, slice and par boil for 3 minutes. Drain* and immediately soak in an ice water bath for 3 min. Drain, blot dry and freeze.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: When draining vegetables, save the water and its nutrients. Use the water for “garbage soup”. Garbage soup is vegetable stock. It is made from the scraps and remnants of vegetables that have been washed and peeled before slicing. Accumulate the scraps in your freezer in a Ziploc bag. Don’t toss this as garbage. Save onion skins, celery leaves and ends, carrot peels, tiny garlic cloves, and stems cover with water along with a bay leaf. No seasonings. Cook and reduce until vegetables wilt and are tender. Pour through strainer and freeze the vegetable broth and use in any recipes that requires vegetable stock. Consider using the stems from a head of broccoli for cream of broccoli soup instead of thinking of them as trash too. The variations are limitless yet the product is so nutritious

                                                   Assortment of vegetable scraps