I grew up associating delicious food with artificial seasoning. You dare not prepare a meal in my household without adding the main ingredient- Msg-filled bouillon cubes. I used to think cooking with the appropriate amount of artificial seasoning was key to a good dish. Later in life, I was shocked and amazed at how it is possible to cook tasty meals without artificial seasoning. Prioritizing my health and that of my family has broadened my perspective on how it is sufficient to create a Masterchef-worthy meal without adding artificial flavours. Needles to say, I have since learnt how to incorporate a variety of herbs, spices and broths to enhance flavours naturally.
Vegetable broth is a healthy way of adding nutrient-dense flavours to dishes. Making the broth yourself is an excellent way to choose your preferred flavours. Recently, I learnt that I could also use veggie scraps in making broth. Immediately my mind tried to evaluate how I had wasted tons of natural flavours. Since then, I have made numerous flavours of vegetable broths based on the scraps I have at hand. Additionally, my kids are now aware of not throwing their vegetable scraps straight in the bin because they now understand that mummy can use them to make yummy soups (haha).
Based on your preferred vegetables, you can save the stumps, stalks, core and skins. Usually, I find myself using broccoli stumps, carrot ends, kale stalks, beetroot stalks, green onion ends, bell pepper core with seeds, celery and onions.
You can put the scraps in a Ziploc bag and freeze them till you are ready to make your broth.
NOTE: Do not add citrus or green bean scraps as it will make the broth taste bitter. You can also add whole vegetables if you do not have enough scraps for the broth.
- Chop whatever is needed to be chopped and dump everything in a stockpot.
- Fill the pot with cold water and leave about 3 inches for boiling space from the top.
- Boil for at least 1 hour or longer on low-medium heat and let it simmer for 1-2 hours. For spiciness, I like to add peppercorns, ginger, garlic, thyme and bay leaf.
- Add salt(optional)
- After cooling down, strain the broth with a strainer and pour into jars(I use jars saved from pasta sauce), ice trays, plastic bowls or Ziploc bags.
- Store the broth in the refrigerator for a week and 6 months approximately in the freezer.
- The broth residue is useful for compost (nothing goes to waste) . Plus, it will make your house smell heavenly when it’s cooking.
Reasons to try homemade vegetable broth.
1.It is a healthy way of incorporating an array of natural flavours in your dishes.
2.It is inexpensive.
3.It helps reduce waste.
4. It is a simple way to teach kids how to reduce waste.
Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to like, comment and share.