Vegetable Stock

For some time now my husband and I have been talking about becoming vegetarians or at least cutting out the beef and pork.  I decided to make my own vegetable stock because it can be pretty expensive in stores; quite a bit more than chicken broth.

What you will need:  A large stock pot, mesh strainer
4 large carrots, chopped
2 large onions, chopped (don't peel)
1 large potato, sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
6 garlic cloves (don't peel)
15 button mushrooms, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
20 fresh parsley stems
black pepper

Combine all ingredients in the stock pot along with 14 cups of water.  Bring to a boil and adjust heat so the mixture simmers gently for 30 minutes or until vegetables are very tender.
Cool slightly and then strain, pressing the vegetables on the side of the strainer to extract the juice.
Use immediately or refrigerate up to 5 days.  Freeze up to 3 months.  I used ice cube trays and freeze the stock in them, pop them out and then store in a sealed Ziploc bag.

A pot full of veggies.  Yum!

This recipe was taken from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bitman