I try to be grateful for the abundance of the blessings that I have, for the journey that I’m on and to relish each day as a gift. – James McGreevey
Holidays are right around the corner. I get excited when I think about all the opportunities I will have to cook for my family and friends. This time of year always gets my creative juices flowing.
I work outside the home, so I often don’t have the time I would like to spend cooking and creating in the kitchen. When I find a shortcut offering better quality than store bought, doesn’t take much effort on my part, and adds amazing flavor to the dishes I create, I jump on it.
Making your own vegetable stock is one of those shortcuts. The flavor and quality can’t be compared to what you buy in the store and it is simple to do. As an added benefit,when making your own pure food vegetable broth, you know exactly what you are getting.
I prefer to make my vegetable broth gluten free as it is simple to accomplish. The vegetable broth recipe is mostly made up of vegetables. Soy sauce is the only potential product with gluten. Use Tamari gluten free soy sauce and your whole broth remains gluten free. Simple.
When making your broth feel free to experiment with different vegetables. Today I made one batch that strictly followed the recipe (go figure, I actually followed a recipe). The other batch I added a few beets that were homegrown from the garden and needed to be used up and pumpkin broth left over from making a batch of pumpkin puree. The second pot of broth was a little more colorful but just as delicious. Your imagination is all that is required, along with a few leftover scraps.
Double the recipe so you will be sure to have enough to freeze. This is the best part. The broth freezes well and is great to have on hand when you need a bit of extra flavor for your pure food recipes.
Tonight I am using my broth for a delicious split pea soup recipe. Be sure to come back on Tuesday and check it out. I would love to hear what you use your vegetable broth for. Make a comment and spread a little inspiration my way, I would surely appreciate it. The following recipe is from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1 onion, quartered (don’t bother to peel)
- 1 potato, sliced
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 2 or 3 cloves garlic (don’t bother to peel)
- 5 to 10 white mushrooms, halved or sliced
- 10 to 20 parsley stems or stems with leaves
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Put the oil in a deep skillet or dutch oven on medium high heat. When hot, add the carrots, onion, potato, celery, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook without stirring for about 5 minutes, then stir occasionally, allowing vegetables to brown well. Usually about 15-20 minutes.
- Add the parsley, 6 cups water, the soy sauce, and some pepper. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so the mixture simmers steadily but gently. Cook for about 60 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender.
- Strain, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more soy sauce or a bit of salt, before using or storing.
- Broth can be used immediately, stored in the refrigerator for about 1 week in an airtight container, or frozen.
- Double your batch to have some on hand in the freezer for later use. Trust me, you wont regret it.
- Allowing the vegetables to brown well adds depth of flavor and a richer color to the broth.
- When freezing vegetables, I prefer to freeze mine in 1 cup plastic containers. Once frozen, I pop them out of the container and place them in a heavy duty freezer bag. It is easy to grab the amount I need out of the bag and reseal.
[ois skin=”pure grace”]
