Who needs bouillon?

I had a craving today for mac-a-broc, a staple in the Sokolovic household when I was growing up. It’s a pretty simple recipe so I figured it wouldn’t take too much time to make – we had just gotten back from bowling with the boys^[1] and I didn’t want to spend the rest of the afternoon cooking a complex supper.

“All I need to do,” thought I in my haste, “is brown garlic in olive oil and then add chopped broccoli, some seasoned salt, and… hmm. Water? Vegetable broth? White wine? Some combination of these? Let me call dad and find out how he did it, just to be sure.”

Dad’s answer: chicken broth, a single can to be exact. “And remember to save some of the macaroni water in case it’s too dry. And you need to cook the broccoli until is mush^[2] or you won’t get no flavor.”

Since I had to go out to pick up some of the other ingredients, I found myself in the canned soup aisle looking at chicken broth. Since we’ve been trying to eat a little healthier, I thought this would be a good opportunity to replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth.^[3] This idea was further cemented in my mind when I discovered that most chicken broths contain MSG, high fructose corn syrup (yes, it’s true), and myriad other chemicals starting with “di-” and ending with “-ate.”

I was dismayed to find the vegetable broth to be no different, with one additional strike against it – the “broth” was mostly water plus concentrated vegetable juice! Do you mean there isn’t an army of grandmas simmering stock pots full of fresh vegetables in a giant kitchen somewhere in the Swanson complex?! I also knew I didn’t want to go the bouillon route: it has most of the same bad stuff as the canned version plus WAY more salt.

“That’s it! I’m making my own vegetable stock.” I picked up some carrots and celery and headed home. I rough-chopped a few carrots and celery stalks, threw in a chopped onion and a few bay leaves, some S&P, and added enough water to cover the veggies. Less than an hour later, I had a broth that made for a most delicious mac-a-broc supper.^[4]

The point is that it’s totally easy to take small steps to do a little better. My guess is that the vegetables, the energy to boil the water, and my time added up to more than I would have paid for the canned stuff, but probably not that much more – and I think it was worth it.

With a little planning, how hard would it be to make a BIG pot of vegetable broth and freeze it in small portions? That would certainly close the economic gap, and would give a healthier alternative that’s just as convenient as the canned stuff.

I don’t expect to NEVER buy prepared broth again – especially chicken broth – but it’s good to know that with a minimal effort we can do a little better.

1. more on that in a future post [back]
2. rhymes with “bush” [back]
3. Part of a more conscious effort to go veg for a meal. [back]
4. I also made sure to add the spent veggies to the compost pile before all was said and done. We’ve created a veritable buffet for critters, as evidenced by all the tracks in the snow around the pile. I’m interested to see how it looks when spring hits. [back]