Vegetable Broth

I don't like to buy vegetable broth and I much rather go without than braving some mystery liquid from a box, can or broth cube.  

It's easily made at home and it is a kitchen staple at our house.  Of course you can make this broth out of fresh produce, but if you eat a lot of vegetables, I recommend collecting the vegetable and herb trimmings in the freezer so that you can make the broth out of perfectly good bits you might otherwise discard. 




I N G R E D I E N T S

Vegetables;  ends and trimmings

Herbs;  ends and trimmings

Cooking Oil or Vegan Butter

1/4 cup White Wine

Peppercorn; whole or crushed 

Water

1 fresh Lemon;  peel the zest of the lemon 

Salt;  to taste

P R E P A R A T I O N S

Put the trimmings, as you have them into a bowl in the freezer.  

This way, you won't have to worry that they spoil.  For a mild stock, I prefer the peels and trimmings of carrots, celery, onion, herbs, mushrooms, cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes, squashes, basil, parsley and cilantro.  I would avoid scraps of broccoli, cabbage, parsnip, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, cauliflower etc because they will produce a broth thats referred to as 'stinky stock' which makes it difficult to cook with and also difficult to digest.

Once you have enough, you are ready to make your broth.
Transfer the vegetables into a medium size pot and sauté them with just a little bit of cooking oil or vegan butter.

In a large soup pot add the white wine, twice to three times as much water was vegetables, peppercorn and bring the water to a boil.  Reduce the heat until the liquid is at a simmer, cover the pot and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Take the pot off the heat, add a good amount of peeled lemon zest and let the broth cool.

Strain out the solids, add salt to taste (if desired—you can always season later).  If you have immediate use for it, store the broth in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  This way the broth is good for a couple of days.  I, however, prefer to store vegetable broth in ice cube trays in the freezer.  This way, there is no need for me to use all the broth immediately, the broth will stay good for months and I can pull out as many or as few cubes as I need for my cooking.

        Nina