This recipe comes courtesy of Marissa Monmaerts at Transitions US. Read the original post on her blog here.
- Save veggie scraps in a plastic bag or Tupperware in your freezer. I usually go for garlic and onion peels, celery and carrot butts, carrot tops, cabbage/tomato/potato scraps, broccoli stems, kale stalks, remnants of herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil, ginger, etc.), even apple cores or lemon peels. I don’t use scraps from veggies that you don’t usually cook (cucumbers, lettuce, etc.). Other than that, I’m usually not too picky about what I keep for broth, but try to avoid having too much bitter (ex: mostly kale stalks) because that can affect the flavor of your dish.
- When you’ve filled up a bag or two with scraps (depending on the size pot you’re using), you’re ready to make broth! I used to use a huge pot and would save up 2-3 bags of scraps, making broth once or twice a month and storing it in the freezer. Now that I have limited freezer space, I make smaller batches on a weekly basis and use it fresh. If you’re using the Solavore Sport solar oven, I recommend using one quart-size bag of veggie scraps for each graniteware pot.
- Pre-heat the solar oven.
- Pour the frozen veggie scraps into your pot, and fill the pot with enough water to mostly submerge the veggies (once the scraps begin cooking they will sink lower into the pot). Feel free to add seasonings (extra garlic, onion, ginger, or spices) if desired (you can always add these later when you use the broth in cooking).
- Place the pot(s) in the pre-heated oven.
- Allow to simmer until you smell a strong, rich veggie broth aroma. In the solar oven this could be several hours.
- Remove pot from solar oven and let cool.
- When the broth is room temperature (or cool enough to package in glass or plastic), strain out the veggies and pour the broth into storage containers to keep in your fridge or freezer. If you’re freezing the broth make sure to leave enough space in the vessel for the liquid to expand when frozen (we’ve cracked plenty of glass jars and wasted lots of broth this way!).
- Keep one jar of veggie broth in your fridge to use for soups, rice, sautéing vegetables, and more!
- Enjoy, and repeat!
Thanks Marissa, we can't wait to try it!
