I’ve been thinking long and hard how to ‘do’ this new series I’m embarking on. I am thoroughly enjoying our real food adventure, but don’t want to come across as smug. Real food is a journey, and every person must decide what’s right for them. As a result, our paths all differ as much as our destinations.
During our last week in Australia, I was loaned a Thermomix by the lovely people at Thermomix Australia. Now, I’ve wanted a Thermomix for just over 2 years, but the cost of it is pretty prohibitive. The more I’ve researched, however, the more I have wanted one, because, quite frankly, it ticks so many boxes for me! But more on that another time. For now, I want to share the very first recipe I made by Thermomix: Vegetable Stock Cubes / Bouillon.
At first I wasn’t sure if it was worth bothering, to be honest. Vegetable stock cubes are so cheap, and having them in a box is so convenient. But then I had a look at the ingredients and I realised that an attempt at cutting preservatives and additives out of our food falls flat if the very basic underpinning foundation ingredient contains those things.
Here are the ingredients of our usual vegetable stock cubes:
Salt, vegatable oil, potato starch, yeast extract, sugar, carrot (1.5%), tomato (1%), herbs (parsley, tarragon), spices (turmeric, pepper, celery seed), bell pepper (0.2%), garlic, leek (0.1%), flavourings (contains mustard), caramelised sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose
It’s not exactly poison, but compare it to this:
celery, carrots, onion, tomato, courgette, garlic, mushrooms, basil, sage, rosemary, parsley, oil and salt.
If I were to lay those ingredients out on a two plates, I know which one I’d go for.
While this recipe is an adaptation from the Australia Every Day Cookbook and is written for the Thermomix, there’s no reason why you couldn’t mix it in any high powered blender and make it part of your every day seasoning.
- 2 celery stalks, with leaves
- 2 large carrots, cut into chunks
- 1 onion, peeled and quartered
- 1 tomato, quartered
- 1 courgette, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 50g mushroom (optional)
- a teaspoon each of basil, sage, and rosemary
- 20g parsley
- 30g olive oil
- 200g sea salt or pink salt (don’t use table salt, it’s very high in Sodium, which is what you want to avoid in a healthy diet)
- Chop all the vegetables and herbs for <b> 10 seconds on Speed 7 </b>
- Add the oil and salt, and <b> cook at 90 for 20 minutes on speed 2 </b>
- It turns into an unappealing looking green gloop, but adds amazing flavour to all your dishes.
- Leave to cool and place in a jar in the fridge for up to six months.
- If using less salt, freeze in spoonfulls or ice cube trays and use as needed,
