A Simple Vegetable Broth- Peasant? Queen? Aqua Cotta is.... Supreme.

While I was in graduate school, I was briefly a substitute office assistant for a landscape architecture firm. All the clients were dizzyingly rich, but like anyone (maybe more than lots of us?) they had longings wealth doesn't answer. In at least one case, this longing was for simplicity. 

One of cinema's least simple landscapes.
Last year at Marienbad. What are they having for dinner?

Ironically though, the quest for simplicity can be a pretty complicated affair. Having an architect design a chicken coup and hiring someone to deal with the chickens is not the simplest way to have fresh soft-boiled eggs for breakfast. True: it is easy to be seduced by the romanticism of putting on mucky boots and gathering eggs into a perfect wicker basket, while wearing lots of gingham. But this is not simplicity, no more than Marie Antoinette was a peasant, despite the elaborate infrastructure:

Le petit hameau- simple?

Kitchen scraps- simple.

Loving what you have- that is simplicity This bright fresh dinner is that- loving what you have. (Shopping to make an aqua cotta? No need). In this case, what I had was a heap of stems from spinach (for a pie), dill and parsley (stuffed peppers), the dark tops of two bunches of scallions, the skins of tomatoes grated on the large holes of the box grater (the stuffed peppers again). There were also some zucchini trimmings (chocolate zucchini cake), then a few peppercorns, some leftover tarragon. We just cover this all with water, salt to taste, and put it on to a quick boil- ten minutes should do it to bring out their flavors but keep them bright and clear. The dish may called "boiled water," but using a quick hand will keep things from tasting, well... boiled. Any recipes for aqua cotta I have seen logically call for water, but this being about the most delightful way to use up bits of vegetable this and that, why not start a step earlier to make Aqua cotta supreme? This springy broth is ready by the time you have the rest of your vegetables trimmed. Carrots?- toss the peels into the broth too. Green beans?- the ends you snap off.

A sliver of squash, a handful of peas.

When your broth is ready, drain it into another pan and add whatever you have a little of. It's a clear, simple dish, so more than 5 vegetables could end up being just a jumble of flavors. Here I used a couple of small zucchini, a handful of frozen peas, some scallions, and some little flat squares of sweet butternut squash, and had it at a brisk simmer for about 10 minutes. Then just before serving, a few leaves of spinach, and a green splash of olive oil finished the dish.

As appealing as all the virtuous modesty is, it isn't quite dinner yet, at least not for me. Even just a heel of great bread will make it a meal, but some grated parmesan amps it up to luxury. Need protein, or still more luxury? Slip in an egg to poach just a minute or two before it is done, so the white is just cooked and the yolk seeps out yellow and rich. 

Aqua cotta is supremely satisfying- vibrant and fresh, warm and nourishing. Loving what is right in front of you makes for a very nice dinner, and a nice life, too.

Kitchen scraps, fit for a Queen.