Cooking With Dr. G

Making your own vegetable broth, in my opinion (and it is my blog, so my opinion counts) is on the list of things that all adults “should know how to do”.  Other things on that list include: how to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew (you know, for emergencies), change a tire, operate a grill (might have burned my eyebrows off once), how to do your taxes, parallel park, drive a stick (nope, can’t do that one), swim…etc.   Since we are entering soup and stew season this the perfect time to learn how to make a delicious vegetable broth.

Making your own vegetable broth is on that “should know” list for me because I eat a ton of vegetables, probably a  literal ton, and I can’t bring myself to let all of those little vegetable ends and scraps go to waste.

The ingredients here are simple: water, salt, vegetable scraps, and maybe a bay leaf if you are feeling fancy.  If you have been cooking plant based foods at home, I know that you have vegetable scraps!  Here is what you do:  keep a large ziplock bag or some other covered container in your freezer and every day throw your carrot ends, tomato tops, mushroom stems, wilted scallions and herbs, celery leaves and ends, etc into the bag, and then put it in back in the freezer.  When you have collected about 8 cups or so of vegetable scraps make some broth with it, and then start your collection over.  The broth will freeze well; I make mine into ice cubes and defrost them as needed. My favorite part is that the flavors and colors of this broth are always a little bit different since there is no set amounts of which kinds of vegetables go into the broth.

That said there are some vegetables that I try to collect more of then others.  These include:  tomatoes, onions/scallions, mushrooms, carrots, celery, and garlic.

There are also some that I usually avoid: starchy vegetables, hot peppers, and beets (turns the broth red).

And a few that I use in smaller amounts: purple onions (turns the broth purple if you use too much),  Brussels sprouts/cabbage (in large amounts make the broth bitter), herbs, and ginger.

Now that you can make your own broth you are going to have the best soup and stew season ever!!!

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G

Nothing Goes to Waste Vegetable Broth

October 18, 2017

by laurie.garabedian@gmail.com

Category Main Meals

Ingredients

• 8 cups of vegetable scraps (see post for example of what and what not to include)
• 12 cups of water
• 1/2 - 2 teaspoon of salt, add to taste
• 1 bay leaf (optional)

Instructions

1. Put the water, vegetable scraps, and bay leaf into a large soup pot.
2. Cover pot, bring to a boil then, turn the heat down to medium to simmer for 90 minutes.
3. Place a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl or another pot, strain broth over the bowl, discard vegetables.
4. Add salt to taste, start with 1/2 teaspoon and add more as needed.
5. Use in your favorite recipes or freeze in an ice cube tray for later.

Tags

Fall,

New Recipes,

Soup,

Winter

https://www.cookingwithdrg.com/2017/10/18/nothing-goes-to-waste-vegetable-broth/