Ingredients
- Minimalist Broth
- 2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
- 1-2 Large Onions, chopped
- 1 lb Celery, Chopped
- 1 lb Carrots, washed but unpeeled, chopped
- 3 Whole Cloves Garlic
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 10 Whole Black Peppercorns
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 Cup Low Sodium Tamari
- 1 Gallon Water
- I also added, because I could
- 2 Parsnips, chopped
- 2-3 Tbs Tomato Paste (or one or two tomatoes)
- A few Sprigs Rosemary (parsley is more traditional, use a lot!)
- 1 Head Broccoli (a strange but decent choice)
- 1 Sweet Potato (another odd choice, whatever)
- You might also have or want to use
- Any fresh veggie scraps from other meals
- Leeks
- Mushrooms
- Celery Root
- Potatoes
- Peppers
- Turnips
- Any Greens
- Zucchini
- Fennel
Preparation
Step 1
You see what I mean? If it’s clean and fits in the pot, it can go in. Minimal chopping, no peeling, just in the pot it goes!
Heat a large stock pot with some olive oil in the bottom. I chop my way through the vegetable list as I’m cooking–so once the onion is chopped, add it to the pot, then do the celery, the carrots, etc, adding each thing once it’s chopped up a bit. When you’re out of stuff to add, pour in the water, turn up the heat and cover. It should only take you about 20 minutes to chop everything and get it in the pot. From then on out it’s easy street.
Cook for 1 hour, turning the heat down a bit once the whole thing starts boiling.
I finish my broth by adding salt/tamari/soy sauce to taste and letting it simmer uncovered for another 20-30 minutes to concetrate the flavors.
Strain the veggies out into a large pot
The pitcher makes it easy to pour some of the broth into ice cube trays for easy storage. Ice cubed size chunks of broth make for easy defrosting and easy recipe additions.
The broth will keep about a week in your refrigerator, and two good months in your freezer. If you cook for the holidays, it’s a good time to make some veggie stock and put it up now to use for all your upcoming holiday meals. You’ll thank yourself for being prepared, and your food will be that much more delectable!