A Colorful, Flavorful Mirepoix

 I had to make vegetable stock for a vegetable barley soup at work. A good 5 gallons of soup. A good 5 gallons of vegetable stock requires a good amount of mirepoix to sit on the stove top simmering in seasoned waters for a good hour or more. And to draw on a past post or two the mirepoix is an essential in the stock/soup making bizz. It's the aromatic addition to the soup, the stock, the sauce even. It's half onions, one quarter celery, one quarter carrot. You "sweat" the mirepoix in the pot with a lil oil and seasoning (salt and pepper), sweat meaning you saute it until it unlocks those tasty smells and appears a tad translucent. After you sweat the mirepoix you add the water and then the herbs and seasons: parsley, thyme, peppercorn, salt. You let that big pot simmer for an hour and then you strain the mirepoix out and whats left is your broth! You can then add fresh vegetables to the vegetable broth and go from there. See photos below...

Check out the rainbow carrots. They are a great addition to a plate for color. Typically not used in mirepoix because there is no visual interaction the customer and the mirepoix from a stock. We used rainbow carrots because we had some leftover from a dinner. I love using what we have. It feels right and it feels more creative.