Mirepoix is a lovely French word for diced vegetables used to flavor most anything. It’s typically carrots, onions, and celery cooked together with fat (butter, oil, etc.) and used as the base for soups, stews, sauces, or most any roasted meat. In the south, especially in New Orleans, it is often made with onions, bell peppers, and celery to become the base for virtually all Cajun and Creole foods.
Cooking a big batch of mirepoix at the beginning of the week and storing it in the refrigerator gives time to spare when preparing dinner on busy weeknights. Making a batch in advance gives a flavor boost to foods without the time commitment at the end of a long work day.
To make a batch of mirepoix or trinity:
2 cups diced carrots (or bell peppers, if making a trinity)
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced onions
Salt and pepper to taste
2-4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
Warm the olive oil in a skillet until warm.
Add the vegetables and cook, low and slow, until the vegetables are tender.
Add salt and pepper and butter.
Mix everything together and store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Use as needed. Usually about ¼ to ⅓ of a cup is all you need.
Use as the base for spaghetti sauce, chili, tacos, soup, stew, etc.
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