Scraps From Veggie Prep and Stock

[Porthos]

This is probably a culinary 101 question but I have only recently started thinking about it.

I prep fresh veggies to graze on as healthy snackage. I like carrots, celery, and bell peppers of various colors. I also go through a lot of onion in my regular cooking. My DW does not deal well with peppers, sweet or otherwise, in her diet.

I traditionally have just tossed all of the scraps. It seems to me that, besides the leafy ends of celery that I already know about, that some of these scraps would qualify as additions to stock-making, even just a veggie stock. I don't peel my carrots so there are no peels to consider.

What can I use in the future to help make stock (kind of a yes/no list)? Feel free to add things I haven't thought of.

Celery trimmings. (yes)

Carrot tips and/or roots.

Broccoli stems.

Asparagus bottoms that get cut off when I bring them home and put them in water.

Onion peelings.

Green bean tips.

Left-over whole-kernel corn.

Zucchini trimmings.

[BeeZee]

I think asparagus would probably overwhelm a neutral veggie stock, but fine for making a stock to use for risotto, for example. Don't forget mushroom stems for the stock pot.

[Plantes Vertes]

Celery trimmings. (yes)

Carrot tips YES and/or roots ?.

Broccoli stems. YES

Asparagus bottoms that get cut off when I bring them home and put them in water. YES

Onion peelings. If you mean skins, then no, as they have no flavour but make everything yellow.

Green bean tips. YES (very good)

Left-over whole-kernel corn. YES but the flavour will be sweet - best kept for corn recipes.

Zucchini trimmings. YES

[Plantes Vertes]

Oh and also good in there:

Herb stalks

Pea pods

Citrus peel

Celeriac/swede/turnip peelings

Leek

Fennel

Peppercorns

Also add the water from steaming or boiling vegetables.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Don't forget that you can keep all the trimmings in a plastic bag in the freezer, then make stock when you like. This way, you conserve a little every day with very little overall effort.

Tomato

Mushroom

Garlic

Beets are ok, but color the stock very, very pink. This is fine for a lot of applications, but, some may find hot pink risotto off-putting.

As stated above, use the corn to make its own stock.

Potato makes cloudy stock and the flavor isn't worth it in most cases.

I don't use broccoli or other family members because of the smell. If you can stand the 'boiled cabbage' odor in your stock, then use them.