Power-Up Veggie Broth Recipe

Good broth or stock is the secret of many a chef and fine restaurant. Broths and stocks really enhance dishes, adding nutrition and depth of flavor.

Broth is a great way to add a wider variety of healthy flavors and balance the six tastes for light, one-pot evening meals. Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, pungent and astringent are the six tastes that promote balanced digestion in each meal in Ayurveda.

Broth is a very easy raw material to make and keep on hand as a backdrop for all your recipes. A weekend morning after shopping is a perfect time to make veggie broth.

I tend to make soups and broths from whatever vegetables are in the house. The stuff from the can or box typically has onions, carrots celery, tomato and too much salt.

The door opens to many more options when you make and use homemade broth. You can add the flavors and tastes you need to balance your meal. Veggie broth here is defined as a strained liquid derived from water, vegetables, herbs and spices cooked together for several hours.

Preparation Tips

Shop for veggies and do a little preparation to get ahead of the game, and make broth at the same time. This time of year it is typical to bring home kale, collards, cabbage, onions parsley, celery, carrots, turnips and parsnips from the farm or market.

I commandeer all the bits that are good but not so fun to eat to make stock. Cut the stems from the kale, parsley and collards; slice off the ends of carrots, parsnips and onions; carve the cores out of the cabbage and cauliflower. Rinse it all; then add it all into the veggie stock. Washing and chopping of vegetables in advance also cuts down on food prep time during the week.

Kale and collard stems in the vegetable broth are a great way to work greens and the bitter and astringent tastes into the meal.  The backdrop of the six tastes makes everything taste better. No one may know but you!

Here is a typical stock recipe, but change it up depending on what you have in your house and the tastes you need.

Power-Up Veggie Broth

Ingredients:

• 4 quarts filtered water
• 2 carrots or a bunch of ends
• 1 onion, or several tops and bottoms
• 3 stalks of celery
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Parsley stems
• Cabbage core
• Cauliflower core
• Kale or collard stems
• 1 inch of turmeric root
• 1-3 cloves garlic, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Celtic salt, to taste

Equipment:

• 6-8 Quart Stock pot with lid
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Fine mesh filter
• Canning funnel
• 3-4 quart canning jars with lids

Instructions:

1. Trim any rotten or old bits off the vegetables, stems and ends. Dispose of these. No rotten or moldy veggies in the stock!
2. Chop all the good bits coarsely
3. Add chopped veggies and spices to your stock pot.
4. Cover with water (about 4 quarts).
5. Bring to a boil for 20 minutes.
6. Turn down to simmer. Simmer several hours on low, partially covered.
7. Filter into clean quart mason jars.
8. Cover, label and cool. Refrigerate and store in refrigerator. Use within 10 days.

You can scale the recipe up or down to make as much broth as you want to. Change the vegetables with seasonal availability.

How to Use This Totally Yummy Liquid

• Drink it straight; warm broth is delicious.
• Use it for any soup.
• Pan-sauté vegetables with it to add flavor and cut down on fat.
• Add a cup (as part of the water called for) to boost the flavor when cooking rice, quinoa or kitchari.

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