One of the cheapest, easiest, and most nutritious things you can add to your soups, stews and curries is homemade veggie broth! Did you know that the skins, stems, and stalks of many vegetables are actually the most nutritious part? They are also the parts of our vegetables we usually discard when preparing meals. Store-bought broth is loaded with sodium and often devoid of rich flavour and nutrition. This broth is amazing on its own seasoned with himalayan sea salt or miso paste to your taste preference. Add in a bit of tomato paste for a to-die-for ramen base! The possibilities are endless. The best part is that it's essentially free! Especially since good quality vegetable broth is expensive.
The first step of making this incredible broth is to begin to collect all of your washed vegetable scraps into a large ziplock bag. It's very important that the veggies be washed and mostly organic, otherwise you will be left with soil sediment at the bottom of your broth that will be full of pesticides. This ziplock bag can live in your freezer for several months. I always have one on the go and toss in my scraps whenever I make a meal. It fills up pretty fast!
When you have a full bag, its time to make some broth! Grab your largest soup or stock pot and fill the pot 1/2 - 3/4 full with water.
Bring the water to a rolling boil and dump in your frozen veggie scraps. Let this boil for 15 minutes, then turn the stove down to low and let simmer for 1+ hrs. Ensure you have some herbs incorporated into your broth (eg. parsley, cilantro, chives, thyme, rosemary, etc). These herbs can be fresh scraps or dried ones added in from your pantry. This adds another layer of complexity to the broth.
Once the veggies have had plenty of time to cook down and the broth is a deep brown colour, remove the pot from the element. Bring it over to the sink with a sieve and begin to scoop + drain the scraps into your sink or compost bin until your broth is clear of any veggie pieces. Optional step: add the broth back into the stock pot and bring back over medium-heat. Add in 1-3 scoops of miso paste and bring to a boil. This adds a wonderful umami to the broth and an extra level of nutrition!
Storing:
There are several options here. If you wish to freeze your broth, let it cool down completely and then add to tall-tupperware containers. Ensure there is atleast 1" of room between the broth and the top of the container as the broth will expand as it freezes. If you wish to freeze your broth in glass jars, here's a great resource that walks you through the steps to ensure you don't shatter your jars in the process!
https://abetterwaytothrive.com/freezing-in-glass-no-more-broken-jars/
If you wish to refrigerate your broth and use within the week, then let the broth cool completely and store in whatever food-safe container you wish.
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Enjoy!
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