Vegetable Broth

recipe serves 4

Making homemade vegetable broth is so easy. It's wonderful to be able to use organic veggies and make vegetable broth to use in soups and rice throughout the week. You can store the stock in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze it for later use. I also like to have a bowl of vegetable broth, with a few of the veggies once it's batched. It's super healthy and delicate for a mid-day snack.

My special ingredient for a well-balanced stock is sunchokes. Sunchokes add a beautiful creaminess to the broth, unlike any other ingredient. Sunchokes are in the sunflower family and offer high fiber and many other amazing nutrients! 

I like to batch vegetable broth in two sections. First, I simmer for 45 minutes with evoo, celery tops, onion, Italian parsley, garlic, sunchokes, salt, and spices. I strain all of the cooked veggies out and put the broth back in the pot. I then add cut carrots and mushrooms, and let it simmer for another 1/2 an hour. After it's all finished, I add a touch of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar for extra brightness.  

INGREDIENTS

• 5 cups of water
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch of celery tops 
• 2 onions (cut in half and skins removed)
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley
• 1 head of garlic (cut in half)
• 2 sunchokes, cleaned and sliced (you can trim any undesirable-looking skin, and leave the clean skin on)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 cup of mushrooms (sliced)
• 4 carrots (sliced)
  
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 lemon squeezed
• optional; extra parsley for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

1.  Add water, evoo, celery tops, onions, sunchokes, parsley, garlic, salt, and spices to a large soup pot, cover, and set the stove to simmer on low for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.   
2. Pour over a strainer into a bowl and let liquid drip for 5 minutes, pressing and stirring to remove excess liquid from veggies. 
3. Pour broth back into the soup pot on the stove, and add cut carrots and mushrooms, and let simmer, uncovered, for 1/2 an hour. 
4. Remove from heat and add cider vinegar, and lemon. 
5. Now you can enjoy your homemade vegetable broth garnished with fresh Italian parsley, plus salt and pepper to taste.
6. Alternatively, store in a glass container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer to use anytime!