Veggie Broth (among other things)

I must have been channeling someone yesterday because I was FURIOUS in the kitchen! I'll eventually post most of the recipes but I made homemade seitan, vegetable broth, vegan molasses cookies, roasted beets and roasted fennel and tomato soup. YUUHHMM it was a FUN day in the kitchen!

Here is my recipe for veggie broth. I can't really say this is a hard and firm recipe because it changes with the veggies I have available. I've had a lot of variations from very simple with onions, carrots & celery to random veggies like bell peppers & zucchini. Throw what you have in! (especially the butt-ends of things, trimmings, or things that are wilting but not yet rotten)

about 2 carrots, roughly chopped

1 onion chopped

2-3 garlic cloves

about 3 celery stalks

1-2 Bay leaves

thyme/rosemary as you like it

salt & pepper to taste

tomato paste (I've used ketchup. yup!)

red wine or soy sauce

You can also add anything from fennel fronds to the butt ends of zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, whatever! The more you add, the better it will taste and the more nutritious it will be! And remember, you don't have to peel anything. Just roughly chop your onion and smash your garlic. Obviously rinse/clean your carrots and celery (dirt isn't tasty) but you don't need to peel anything!

Put a small amount of olive oil in the bottom of a soup pot (still not sure the real name of this pot!) and get it HOT. Add all of your veggies, stir to coat and then let them sit. The goal in this step is to get as much moisture out as possible and to caramelize your veggies. Tasty "brown suff" will give your broth depth and yum-factor. Go back and forth between stirring and leaving the veggies alone. This might take anywhere from 20-30 minutes so be patient. When your veggies look like this

Add your tomato paste and red wine/soy sauce. This will add depth and umami flavor to the broth! (plus if you use wine....the chef gets some too!) Stir and continue to cook. Remember the tomato paste/ketchup will have significantly more sugar in it than the veggies did on their own, so watch out for burning in this step! Once everything has one for another 5-10 minutes add about 2 quarts of fresh water to the pot. Now cover and let it simmer for about 45 minutes to really pull the flavor and nutrition out of the veggies. I just go by taste and adjust salt/pepper as needed during the simmering process. When you are ready to strain just get a mesh strainer and dose into any container you have (make sure it's heat proof).

Look how DARK my veggie broth is compared to a store brand's weak-sauce broth. :D When done use in your favorite soup recipe or freeze in muffin tins for later.

I never really thought making your own broth was that big of a deal (I kinda thought it was a little hippie), but one day I did a breakdown of the cost of one very basic batch of broth and it came out to about $.52 worth of celery, $.78 worth of carrots, and maybe $1 in onion (for a big one). I had the ketchup, soy sauce, garlic and  salt/pepper already. For 2 quarts of broth that cost under $3 I can seriously handle that!

This is why you should make your own broth. Do it now!