Super Soup Starter

If you love the versatility of store-bought bouillon or stock cubes, but want to avoid onions and garlic in your cooking, here’s a lovely alternative you can make yourself.

Bouillon or stock cubes are handy little servings of dehydrated vegetables, salt, and seasonings that are full of flavor (but not really anything nutritious). Vegetable stock or bouillon is perfect for starting many different kinds of soup, risotto, gravy, rice, and a variety of dishes. The problem is that most store-bought versions, although being vegetarian or vegan, often have onions and garlic in them. And as Vaishnavas, we try to avoid these and other plants in the allium family.

Note: this soup-starter calls for a lot of salt that acts as a flavor and a preservative. You can store this in the freezer where it keeps well, and because of the salt, it’s easy to scoop out as you need it. Use one tablespoon per cup of water.