A simple vegetable broth is one of my all-time favorite things to make. It’s a ritual that I return to every week or two, and it fills my kitchen with a delicious, soothing fragrance. This recipe yields a rich, golden liquid that can be used as the base of soups, as a simple light meal on its own, or to replace water when cooking rice and other grains. It’s an amazing way to make use of onion skins, potato or carrot peelings, and or carrot greens. l often add in what happens to be around, so some of the additions shift with the seasons.
Measuring isn’t a huge priority for me when making broth. Because it all gets strained, the chopping is pretty rough too. Very satisfying to throw all sorts of things into a pot like this. Here’s the template:
1 or 2 onions, chopped coarsely
3 carrots, scrubbed (no need to peel), chopped coarsely
5-6 stalks celery
3-5 cloves of garlic
Dried herbs as desired. I use 1-2 Tbsp each: thyme, basil, oregano, parsley, dill, ~5 bay leaves
Peppercorns ~ 6
Salt as desired (I usually go with ~ 1 tsp)
Filtered water, several quarts
Other possible additions (will vary with the season):
1 leek, washed and coarsely chopped
Onion skins & ends, washed
Carrot tops; celery tops, washed
Fresh herbs as desired:
Sprig or two of fresh thyme when it’s around; flat leaf parsley is a top choice in my kitchen
Stubs or peelings from carrots/ potatoes
Coarsely chopped potato, scrubbed, any type.
Dried mushrooms, small handful
Tops of green onions, green garlic, leeks
Jalapeños, whole chiles, skins of roasted chiles.
Zucchini or summer squash, chopped coarsely
Skip things like broccoli, cauliflower & cabbage. Obviously skip anything with dirt or decay.
In a 8 qt stock pot, throw the chopped vegetables and other additions and cover with filtered water (cold or room temp is fine). I usually fill to just an inch or two from the top. Bring to a boil, stir once or twice (it will be pretty awkward to stir at this point, just poke around so everything starts to get submerged/ incorporated). Turn down to the lowest setting, cover and simmer for 45 – 60 minutes. You can stir a few times during the cooking process. And voila! That’s your broth!
I have a very particular straining method that I love, which I’ve landed on after several trials. Here’s what I use: A large colander, a medium empty pot, a medium sized shallow dish that the large colander can fit in, a medium or small mesh strainer, and a hand-held asian spider ladle strainer/ skimmer. And some quart-sized mason jars.
I use the hand held spider strainer to remove the bulk of the matter from the stock pot and add it to the large colander. Then when most of that is cleared out, you can set the fine mesh strainer over a medium empty pot and start pouring the remaining liquid through it. I usually fill the pot once, then start transferring to mason jars, then fill it up again (I tend to make a pretty big batch!). The shallow dish below the large colander will also collect a little liquid that you can add in to the medium pot through the mesh strainer as well. Put lids on and when cooled, refrigerate. Keeps for up to 1 week.
I often pull out some cooked carrot, celery, onion, garlic, mushrooms to reuse in another dish i.e.: pasta, stir fry or soup, later that day.
