Taking stock and making stock

Before we begin our first solid round of Bourdain ass-whooping, a hearty thank you is in order to commenters here and on the PPK; whether you've stepped up to offer recipe-veganization contributions or just expressed support, every little bit helps.

Now, on to veggie stock!

Like many chefs/cooks/asshats of the French persuasion, Bourdain starts nearly every recipe off with copious amounts of stock, usually beef or veal stock. And while he's fond of extolling the culinary virtues of said stock--indeed, he has convinced himself that he would wither up and die without it, and must be suffering a shortage because the withering-up stage seems to have already commenced--the fact remains that meat stocks are one-note wonders. Braise, broil, steam and simmer all you want, you're still left with only the oily essence of beef. Add herbs and vegetables to improve upon it, and you just make it all the more clear that the best way to produce a good stock is to cut out the dead middleman and learn to make a decent vegetable stock.

And I absolutely do not mean the yellow-orange, anemic vegetable "broth" you can buy in the aseptic cartons at the grocery store, handy though it may be for everyday cooking. French food requires a dark, deep, flavorful stock, and good food in general requires a depth of flavor and a wide range of different nuanced notes that a quart of veal stock, no matter how much Anthony loves it, just cannot come close to. (The development of truly ass-kicking stock is especially important since word on the metaphorical street is that bazu of Where's the Revolution is brave and bold enough to consider taking on vegan demi-glace--which would probably forever change the world as we know it.)

This was my first attempt at a dark, rich vegetable stock, shown on the right. On the left is a bowl of pre-made grocery-store vegetable broth. See the difference?
I relied mostly on dark leafy greens and portabella mushrooms for the dark color and earthier flavors, and added lemon slices and butternut squash for some sweeter, brighter notes. This particular incarnation of veggie stock contains 2 medium onions, skin-on and roughly chopped, 2 sliced portabella caps, a big handful each of parsley, kale, and spinach, 2 peeled and chopped carrots, 1 cup of cubed butternut squash, 1/4 of a lemon with the rind intact, 5 cloves of garlic, crushed, and a few springs of fresh rosemary and thyme, covered with water and simmered for 2 hours. Before the simmering, just to give you an idea of how veggie-tastic it is, it looked like this:

It turned out pretty tasty, and definitely dark and rich enough to take on some of Les Halles' beef-centric recipes, but I think it needs a little bit more bitterness and more strong flavors.

What do you think? Brussels sprouts? Higher ratio of dark greens? (I'm killing myself trying not to make a pun involving telling you to take stock of the situation.)

This stock will shortly become part of a new and improved version of Les Halles French onion soup, and don't think I'm pussying out and skipping the torched gruyere detail. The key difference, besides the conspicuous absence of veal stock, is that I won't be lighting a Marlboro on the butane torch (P.S., Anthony, way to smoke the same brand as Carrie Bradshaw) and rattling something about the greasy soul of liquid beef into a Travel Channel camera.