Taking Stock in Minimally Processed Foods

Homemade stocks are easy to make, inexpensive, flavorful and aromatic.  I can open the refrigerator and find most of the ingredients I need in the produce bin. I like that I can use tiny pieces and stalks of vegetables I may otherwise throw away. I can cut fresh herbs from my window pots that are fading away at summer's end.

*Another highlight is avoiding those artificial flavors, thickeners and additives found in store bought versions.

Just add the vegetables, herbs, a little bit of protein if you'd like. Cover with water. (Don't add salt till using the stock in the final recipe.) Simmer for 45 minutes and strain. 

Where will this stock be used? I'm making 2 bean soup for dinner by cooking the beans and eating in the broth. Also on the menu is Tahini Chicken Salad made with the chicken meat pulled off the bone.

*The "not-chicken" bouillon I brought off the shelf at the hippie store falls into the category of ultra-processed foods. All store bought stocks would count as processed or ultra-processed. This homemade stock is unprocessed. Here's the summary of a the classification system.

After years of neglecting processing of foods in the studies, evidence emerges showing an association between ultra processed foods and many non communicable diseases. The NOVA classification system, in a report from the United Nations, breaks down food into 4 classifications of processing:

1. Unprocessed and minimally processed foods, include fruits, seeds, milk, leaves, roots, eggs, whole beans and grains and meat. This allows for processes that include drying, crushing, grinding, roasting, boiling, non-alcoholic fermentation, pasteurization, freezing, placing in containers and vacuum packaging.
   
2. Processed culinary ingredients, include oils, butter, lard, salt, sugar. In isolation these are unbalanced, but rarely are eaten alone. Use these with Group I but not overuse.
3. Processed foods, include canned vegetables, fruit and fish, fresh bread and cheese, processed meats to include bacon, ham and pastrami.
4. Ultra-Processed foods include packaged snack, margarines and spreads, baby formula, ice cream, sweetened cereals, soft drinks, mass produced bread, energy drinks, fruited yogurt, stick meat and foods made with colors, flavors, thickeners, gels, emulsifiers and other sugars like fructose, fruit juice concentrates, maltodextrin, lactose and dextrose. 

Aim for mostly Group I, some Group 2, a little Group 3 and few Group 4 Foods.