The Return of Collard Green: Basic Vegetable Stock

That’s right. Collard Green is back. Thank you to everyone who has continued to support this blog in my absence. Your comments and feedback are fantastic! The last year has been very busy for me professionally—which is a great thing, but I’ve definitely scaled back on both cooking and blogging about it. But that ends today.

This summer I will be reading for my comprehensive exams to advance toward my PhD. Reading books that I’ve always wanted to read sounds like fun right now, but come closer to the test date in October, I imagine that I will 180% crazier.

I’ve always found that the best way to control for stress is to find equilibrium among the disparate aspects of my life. When I was an undergrad at UVA, there was a giant Thomas Jefferson quote above the entrance to the Aquatic Fitness Center that read, “Give about two hours every day to exercise; for health must not be sacrificed to learning. A strong body makes the mind strong.” Oh, TJ, how inspiring. Unless, you know, you’re a slave. And of course I researched this quote (because I’m an unflagging nerd) and found that it continues past the eloquent lines etched into UVA’s flagship gym. TJ says, “A strong body makes the mind strong. As for the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind” (August 19, 1785). Whoopsie.

So, the point is, that until my 30th birthday next cinco de mayo I’m going to do my dead level best to strike a balance between consuming and producing texts, eating and cooking great vegetarian food, and exercising and loafing.

To start off this enterprise, yesterday I made some basic vegetable stock. So many types of cuisine use stock in the cooking process and like almost everything else in the kitchen, if you make it from scratch it will taste better in your final product. Of course, we don’t always have the luxury of time or resources to make everything from scratch, but stock is something you can make when you DO have time and keep it in the freezer until you need it. The vegetable stock I outline below can be kept in a covered container for about 3-4 days in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer.

And of course, there are all sorts of alternatives if you just never have the time for making stock. There are some boxed and canned varieties that are quite good as well as some condensed options. My advice for prepared stock is to try to find the lowest sodium variety that you can. This will give you much more leeway in seasoning whatever dish you are making to your own taste—and it’s better for your heart.


1 red onion, peeled and quartered
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced
4 garlic cloves, diced
1 large carrot, rough chopped
2 large white potatoes, sliced
3 celery stalks, rough chopped
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
10 chive leaves
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 cups water


Combine all ingredients in a large soup pot. As long as you scrub all of your vegetables thoroughly, there is no need for peeling.

For easy removal, use a short length of cooking twine to make a bouquet garni with your thyme, chives, and bay leaf. This may sound difficult, but it is as easy as tying your shoelaces. Simply lay your herbs across the twine making a “T” shape. Wrap the twine tightly around the herbs and tie the ends securely. The purpose of the bouquet garni is to infuse a dish with the flavor of fresh herbs without the risk of your dinner guests chomping on a bay leaf during your first course. Because we will be straining the stock, some folks might think this step is superfluous bit since it takes about 10 seconds to complete, I think you are better safe than sorry.


With all of your ingredients in the pot, bring everything to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 50 minutes.

Remove the pot from heat and strain the stock through a fine sieve or colander. You can use a potato masher to squeeze out as much liquid as possible but you may have to re-strain your stock as the mashing process can push small chunks of vegetable through the holes of your sieve.

Once you have separated the liquid from the solids, dispose of the latter. Lots of folks like to save the solids for rich composting material…if you’re into that sort of thing.

Remember that you can store your stock in a covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Also feel free to make substitutions based on seasonal availability or what you have in the crisper. Avoid using broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, cabbage, and asparagus, however. These don’t play well in stock.

(Yields: 2 quarts; Ready In: 90 minutes)