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There’s free broth in your refrigerator—you just haven’t made it yet.
It’s in the optimistically named vegetable crisper where the wizened carrots lie among the desiccated celery, the bruised tomato, and the half an onion left over from that chicken recipe you made last week.
We toss a lot of food that hasn’t spoiled because it’s no longer looks good; we toss bits and pieces that are insufficient for a recipe or a meal; and we toss food we just didn’t get around to cooking, even though we had high hopes.
We’re not bad people, we’re just busy.
But tough times can open our eyes. Odds and ends really do make meals, and you can pretty much find a free meal a week, simply by rummaging around in your refrigerator.
But there’s more to it than food:
Foraging for that free meal helps you keep tabs on what your buying and eating. You’ll make better use of what you buy, and the new awareness will help you purchase fresh food with a keener eye.
It will make you a better cook. The very finest professional cooks waste nothing. Flavor remains, even as beauty fades. Everything has something to offer.
And it might make you a better person. The refrain about “children starving in China” (or, as it turns out, everywhere) is true; your frugality in the kitchen won’t feed them. But it will give you a respect for what makes a meal, and a better understanding of food as literally the gift of life we share with our families and friends, and empathy for people who lack it.
FREE BROTH
You’ll need: a 4 quart pot, and
Assorted vegetables, washed or peeled, trimmed of any bruises, and coarsely chopped: peppers, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions, beat-up shallots, wilted herbs, whatever you’ve got.
Add a bay leaf and pepper, or some peppercorns, if you have them.
Add one quart of water to the pot for every two cups of chopped vegetables
Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for one hour.
Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Strain broth (toss the vegetables) and refrigerate.
Free chicken broth: Take the leftover chicken carcass from the supermarket chicken you bought last Tuesday and toss it into the pot with the vegetables, skin, bones and all. Same directions, but when the broth has cooled and been strained, pick the meat off the chicken, chop it coarsely, toss it back into the broth, and hey presto, it’s chicken soup.
The Free Soup Variations
Add: a half cup of rice, and simmer for 20 minutes, or
4 ounces of dried pasta or,
Potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch dice
And, one or more of the following depending on how hearty you like your soup:
- Beans (cooked, just pour them in from the can, or, uncooked: soak overnight then add to unsalted broth and cook over low heat for about an hour, until soft.
- A can of tomatoes
- Frozen mixed vegetables
- More odds and ends of chopped fresh vegetables including spinach, or greens, cabbage, turnips, carrots, onions, celery, green beans
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