I hate waste. Whenever, and wherever possible I try to reuse, re-purpose, and recycle anything that I can. Along the same line of thought as my Bento Bread Scrap French Toast, I decided to start storing all veggie scraps and end of life veggies in a large freezer bag to make a future veggie stock.
By nature, veggies create a lot of waste as they're often cored, peeled, or cut prior to cooking. Disposing of veggie scraps is not only wasting perfectly good food, but it's also a waste of money.
Vegetable broth is a seriously versatile pantry staple, however I've never been a fan of the canned or boxed varieties due to their high sodium content, and the fact that I never seem to be able to use the entire amount before it goes to waste, and we know I feel about waste. This super easy recipe addresses all these concerns, and I guarantee once you try this you'll never have store bought veggie broth in your pantry again.
What you need:
By nature, veggies create a lot of waste as they're often cored, peeled, or cut prior to cooking. Disposing of veggie scraps is not only wasting perfectly good food, but it's also a waste of money.
Vegetable broth is a seriously versatile pantry staple, however I've never been a fan of the canned or boxed varieties due to their high sodium content, and the fact that I never seem to be able to use the entire amount before it goes to waste, and we know I feel about waste. This super easy recipe addresses all these concerns, and I guarantee once you try this you'll never have store bought veggie broth in your pantry again.
What you need:
- Large sized freezer bag
- Veggie Scraps
- Crock pot/slow cooker
- Water
- Sandwich sized zippered bags
- Sharpie
- Measuring Cup
- Strainer/Sieve
- Dump your veggies into your crock pot
- Fill your crock pot with water to an inch below the top
- Put the lid on your crock pot and turn it on low
- Cook for 24 hours
When your broth is done (you really can't over cook it, the only warning is to check and make sure that the water isn't getting low), turn off your crock pot and let cool. Strain out the chunks of veggies and pour into small zippered bags or reusable containers. I used a combination of baggies in 1 cup, 1.5 cup, and 2 cup portions, as well as ice cube trays for stir fry's and other dishes that only require a touch of liquid. Don't forget to mark the bags with a Sharpie indicating what, and how much is in each bag. This way when you are making a recipe that calls for a cup of broth you can pull it right out of the bag and throw it in!
This is such an easy, lazy weekend project that will save you money and make you feel like a culinary rock star, I promise!
Things to consider:
Not all veggies were created equally!
While this broth recipe is super easy, and super versatile, be cautious as to what veggies you save for use as they will greatly influence the taste of your broth. The best veggies to use are carrots, celery, onion, squashes, potatoes, corn, peppers, eggplant, leeks, garlic and any other herbs. Veggies to avoid, or only use in moderation are broccoli and cauliflower, turnips, brussel sprouts, and anything that has gone bad.
It's unlikely that you'll be able to replicate this broth twice, but in my opinion that's the beauty of it! So play around with it to figure out what you like and don't like, and make it over and over again!
Enjoy!
I have made chicken AND beef broth, but i never thought of trying veggie broth. I think I'll start a bag of veg in the freezer too.
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to do, I can't believe I didn't start doing it a long time ago!! Hope you enjoy!
DeleteI made an absolutely awesome turkey broth last Thanksgiving; it was quite a hassle, really, Now, I've gone pescatarian (basically, vegetarian who eats fish and seafood), and want to try a veggie broth. Problem is, I don't know WHICH veggies to use, or how much to use. This at least tells me to use a crockpot full. I throw away SO MUCH, I know it's wasteful.
ReplyDelete