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Vegetable Broth
by Jeanie Rose, a.k.a. “Mom”
Great Discovery
Bone broth was my introduction to good stock, then
I discovered vegetable broth. The vegetable broth came into my
kitchen by reading Adelle Davis’ Let’s Raise
Healthy Kids and Let’s Cook
it Right. At
the time I had kids and a garden – a good combination. So when I
read Adelle’s description of how to harvest the water soluble
vitamins and minerals from vegetable scraps, I was all ears, so to
speak. What a lovely discovery! What had gone into the compost pile
had one more stop: the stock pot. I used this veggie stock in
everything but ice cream. God bless Adelle Davis!
Method
1. This
process is very simple and produces great quantities of nutritious
broth, especially if you have your own organic garden. Collect the
trimmings from whatever veggies you are preparing: potato peelings,
onion skins, garlic skins, trimmings from any salad or cooking
greens, carrot tops, broccoli skin, outer leaves of cabbage, and on
and on. This is a great use for wilted vegetables like celery,
asparagus, or green onions, lettuce or any green past its
picture-perfect state. Though Amanda tells me not to use vegetables
high in oxalic acid (beets, brussel sprouts, carrots, collard
greens, parsley, spinach, sweet potato, swiss chard, rhubarb). The
oxalic acid will stay in the broth and reduce your body’s ability
to absorb minerals.
Of course, you need to make certain that these vegetables are clean
before you harvest the scraps or the wilted warriors. You don’t
want a dirt taste from an un-scrubbed potato skin, for
instance.
2. If you have a small family and don’t collect much scrap in
preparing one meal, not to worry! Store the trimmings in a bag in
the refrigerator as you collect for three or four days. Don’t hold
on to them too long, though. They will begin to break down and get
slimy. Slimy is out.
3. Now, what you want is enough fine scrap to fill your stock pot,
good measure, pressed down. Once you have plenty of veggie matter
to work with, place it in the stock pot and just cover with cold
water. Add a tablespoon of salt. The salt helps to draw out the
nutrients.
4. Put the stock pot over a medium flame and bring the pot to a
boil. Then, place a good fitting lid on your pot and keep it
boiling for thirty minutes. This cooking time provides for maximum
breakdown for nutrients’ sake. Further cooking can release some
bitterness in vegetables like broccoli.
5. At the end of thirty minutes, turn off the heat. Keep on the
lid.
You’ll be amazed at the aroma coming out of your kitchen. We really
have thrown away so much flavor with our vegetable scraps. But this
is a new day!
Allow your broth project to sit until cooled, then drain.
My Routine
I usually did
the veggie broth while I was cleaning the kitchen after dinner.
Then I let the pot cool overnight, draining off the broth before
breakfast. As the veggie broth cools, even more of the nutrients
leach out of the scraps. The color is a bit shocking. Actually, the
broth has quite a bit of color. And, the color changes some
depending on the predominant vegetables in a given batch of broth.
The intensity of the color should give you some idea of the
intensity of the nutrients. Pretty amazing!
Toss the cooked scraps into the compost pile or give them to the
chickens or pigs. They’ll love you for it.
So what do you do with the broth? Same as with bone broth: a base for gravies, sauces, soups;
liquid in casseroles, in soup mixes; cooling liquid for grains,
pastas, meats.
Anything you add this broth to will be enriched not just with
nutrients, but also with great flavor. As you watch your family
savoring their meals, you can be confident that you are not just
satisfying their taste buds, but you are also building in them a
foundation for great health.
A Note
Use this broth
by itself or combine it with already prepared bone broth. BUT, do not toss your vegetable
scraps into the bone pot to stew for hours. The result is bitter,
bitter. You’d probably throw this mixture away.
So, you can see that this procedure is simple and cost
effective…costs you nothing but a little time. Once you get into
the routine of saving scraps that you turn into broth, you’ll never
be out of this magic potion. Keep a half gallon or so in the
fridge, ready to be used. Freeze some for the winter months when
the garden is gone.
IMPORTANT
DISCLAIMER: Information on this web
site is provided for informational purposes only and is not
intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician
or other healthcare professional. Consult with your physician
before making any changes to your diet.