Recently we had some good friends for Brunch and my friend Angela told me how she makes the most delicious vegetable stock from vegetable trimmings. Of course, this isn’t the first time I’d heard of this frugal stock but to be honest, I was skeptical on how good it would be — stock from trimmings? That’s bunny food! I’ve been using roast chicken carcass for soups for a few years now but I’ve never jumped into the compost bin head first to make this vegetable stock before. Angela and her husband were quite convincing on how good this stock is, so I decided to give it a try.
My first attempt was a simple stock using vidalia onion skins, garlic skins, eggplant ends, zucchini ends, celery leaves, cilantro stems and green onion ends. I made sure to wash the skins very well and tossed them into a large stock pot with enough water to cover. I tossed in a tiny bit of salt and boiled, then I reduced to a simmer for about 4 hours. WOW! I can’t tell you how good this was! For a lunch, I simply sautéed more zucchini, eggplant, onions, garlic and celery and ladled the “Compost Stock” over it and drizzled it with parmesan cheese, boy was it GOOD!
When I saw how dark and rich the onion skins made the stock, I thought: why not make a French Onion Soup from it (we’ve made French Onion Soup here and here and here before)? And that is the way this recipe came about. It’s so easy and inexpensive that I urge you to try it. You can make it vegan by omitting the cheese or just use vegan cheese (not sure how good that could be!). And if you’re looking to save a few calories, omit the croutons and the cheese.
JT tried it and could not believe it was made with onion skins and caramelized onions, no stock at all — verdict, he loved it. For this version, we saved around $4 because I usually use an organic beef stock or sometimes I even roast some beef bones which would have saved us $6.00)!
A Vegetarian French Onion Soup
A Kitchen Inspirations Original Recipe.
Makes 1.5 L (6.25 cups) of soup
Ingredients:
- 3 large organic Vidalia onions, including skins
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 4 L (roughly 4 quarts) water
- 2 tbsp EVOO
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Gruyère cheese, grated (omit if vegan or vegetarian)
- croutons, enough to fill 2 French Onion Soup bowls
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 250°F (121° F).
- Wash outer skin of the onions well. Peel onions, add skins with the bay leaves and salt to a large stock pot with 4L (4 quarts) water in it. Stir and bring to a boil then turn down and simmer for 2-3 hours.
- Slice onions very thinly on a mandoline (any larger bits that can’t be sliced, just add to the onion skin stock pot).
- Heat olive oil to a large Dutch oven and once hot (but not smoking) add onions; sweat onions until translucent and just beginning to caramelize (about 20 minutes). Add the white balsamic vinegar and stir well. Cover with a piece of parchment (as illustrated below) and bake for 2-3 hours at 250° F (121° C) or until golden and fully caramelized.
- When stock is a rich, dark colour strain through a fine sieve to remove skins and bits and finally through a very fine sieve to remove any fine particles (I use a reusable coffee filter). Combine stock with caramelized onions and heat through. Taste for seasonings and add salt and pepper as required.
- Plate in French onion soup bowls with croutons and mounds of Gruyère cheese, broil so it’s all melty and bubbly and serve hot!
- For a vegetarian or vegan version, omit the cheese or use vegan cheese.
Your soup looks and sounds (from your description too) amazingly good and what a bold step to make it without any meat stock! I must admit I have never made an onion soup… Only had it in restaurants and always loved it. I always make stock from skins, wilted vegetable bits etc. but it’s always a chicken stock, so I add roasted carcass too (before I used to do it European way, i.e. with raw chicken carcass but the roasted one is the best!). I freeze or dry all the off cuts and apart from having stock vegetables always ready I also feel really proud I don’t throw out all these precious parts.
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I have always had the same opinion of veggie stocks—probably from buying the awful canned version! But you’ve convinced me otherwise—and your soup looks fantastic!!
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You hit this one our of the park, Eva. (See that? A baseball reference in honor of our teams.) It really does look good and, for me, French onion soup is probably the most delectable soup there is. It’s aroma cannot be beat. I’ve been using vegetable trimmings in my soups for some time now. I keep them in a bag in my freezer until needed. I’ve not used onion skins, though, I will now! When I’ve made this soup in the past — make that distant past — I, too, roasted beef bones first but going vegetarian makes your soup so much easier to prepare. I’ve pinned this, Eva. Some blustery winter morning I’ll put up a pot and enjoy a bowl for lunch. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
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Wonderful. Your soup looks just like the real thing and by looking at it I would never have thought it was made from such frugal ingredients as onion skins. I’ve never used onion skins in cooking but have often thought (as I toss them into the bin), that surely there is a good use for them. I love how they not only bring flavour to the soup but colour it as well xx
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What a terrific looking soup! Love French onion soup, and it’s been ages since I’ve made it. I saw a recipe some time ago about a vegetarian version that used miso — need to play with that. But your method looks excellent — thanks.
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I sat at the bar of a local French restaurant last night and enjoyed a bowl of FOS and a glass of wine. Now this gorgeous post with veggie stock. I think I need to have my next bowl at home by the fire using this recipe. GREG
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Just 99 Calories? wow..definitely a keeper!
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Nothing nicer than a good French onion soup!
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