My pal Lee recently posted about making her own vegetable stock. I immediately started storing veggie scraps in a bag in the freezer.

In just a few days my bag was stuffed with carrot ends; onion scraps and peel; cucumber and zucchini peel and pieces leftover after spiralizing them; half an orange bell pepper that was ready to turn; an entire jalapeno also ready to turn; the big stem from a bunch of broccoli + a few broccoli florets; kale stems and a few leftover leaves.

I tossed all of the frozen veggies into the crock pot, with a little olive oil. I added half an onion, chopped; 3 cloves of garlic, diced; 4 sprigs of dry thyme (that I dehydrated); iodized sea salt; black pepper corns; two bay leaves.

I poured filtered water over the veggies, until they were just covered, and turned the crock pot to low. After a few hours I pulled out the jalapeno and sliced it up and tossed it back in, seeds and all.

There was a lot of chatter on my Facebook page with suggestions and ideas about making vegetable stock and I’m so glad! I had planned to let the stock simmer for eight hours but then read several warnings about using cabbage family (broccoli) veggies in a stock–some warned that it could be bitter and/or become the overpowering flavor–so I stopped cooking the stock at six hours.

I poured the stock and veggies into a large bowl through a cheese cloth. I squeezed the excess broth out of the veggies through the cloth and tossed the veggies (you can compost them).

Look at that colorful stock! I gallon bag of frozen vegetables = 8 cups of delicious vegetable stock!

It was incredibly flavorful and it definitely had a kick from the jalapeno. Perfect for a chili. I started dreaming up a recipe for my first chili made out of my very own homemade vegetable stock. Simultaneously I was reading blogs and the January Iron Chef Challenge blog post from Vegan MoFo popped up in my reader. This month’s secret ingredient: squash! So I added squash to the chili recipe I was creating.

Kale-Lentil-Squash Chili by JL goes Vegan: Food & Fitness with a side of Kale

Ingredients (Make 6 cups) 1 T avocado oil

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup green pepper, diced

3 cups butternut squash, diced (into 1/2 inch cubes)

1.5 t cumin

1 cup dry brown lentils, rinsed and drained

2 tomatoes, diced

2.5 – 3 cups vegetable stock/broth

3 handfuls kale (I used mixed kale), cut into bite size pieces

Fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper, to taste Instructions Heat avocado in an uncovered pressure cooker. Add onion, garlic and green pepper and saute for a few minutes. Add squash and cumin, stir and saute for 3 – 5 minutes. Stir in lentils and tomatoes. Add vegetable stock, enough to cover everything, then a bit more. Toss kale into the pressure cooker, lock the lid in place and bring to pressure. Cook at pressure for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove the pressure cooker from heat and let pressure release naturally. Once pressure is released, remove the pressure cooker lid, away from you. Return the uncovered pressure cooker back to heat, on simmer. Squeeze fresh lemon juice into the chili (I used the juice of half a lemon), stir and simmer for a few minutes. Salt and ground black pepper, to taste. Powered by Recipage

I love this chili! I always finish up my soups and stews in the pressure cooker with lemon or lime juice. I often find that with that fresh acidity, I don’t need much salt. That was the case with this chili, most likely because of the added salt to the vegetable stock. Speaking of that, here are a few recipe notes:

Note that the only added spice I used was cumin. Remember, my vegetable stock has some real zip to it. If you’re using store-bought stock/broth, and or a homemade without jalapeno, you’ll want to add some zip to your chili–consider chili powder, Sriracha or jalapeno.

I lightly salted my homemade vegetable stock so I did not need to add much salt. Your mileage may vary.

I used black peppercorns in the homemade vegetable stock so I did not need to add much ground black pepper.

I used bay leaf in my stock — if you’re using store-bought broth/stock, add one or two leaves to the chili.

I am so glad that I have discovered how easy it is to make my own vegetable stock! Sure it’s easy to pick up prepared broth at the store, but most of what I tossed into the crock pot would have been tossed into the trash. That’s reason enough to make my own stock. No more waste!

Do you make your own vegetable stock/broth? Share your recipe / links!