BFF Vegetable Broth
(courtesy of Jen Boscovich, registered nurse, nutritionist, and co-owner BFF Café in Reno. Yields 3 quarts or 12 1-cup servings)
“One of the secrets to outstanding soup, flavorful rice, great sauce, and amazing quinoa is starting with a good broth,” Boscovich says. “Making veggie scraps into broth before you throw them into the compost pile is a good way to get double use out of them. Simply add your vegetable scraps to a freezer bag or container and keep frozen until you have enough (2 to 3 cups) to make broth.”
2 onions, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 to 3 cups fresh, well-washed vegetable scraps (Great additions include the skin, root, and tops of onions; celery root and leaves; carrot tips, peels, and shoulders; corn cobs; and any part of leeks, green onions, zucchinis, or parsnips.)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
½ cup parsley, chopped
12 cups cold, filtered water
½ to 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Thoroughly wash and chop all vegetables. Heat oil in a pot and add first 5 ingredients. Lightly sauté vegetables until brown. Add cold water. Different flavors are extracted at different temperatures, so starting with cold water and slowly increasing the temperature helps more flavors get extracted. Turn heat to medium and slowly bring to just under a boil. Reduce heat and keep at a simmer for 1 to 1½ hours. Do not stir. When cool, strain through a fine-mesh strainer. Let broth cool, then pour into containers. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
