What do you do with your veggie scraps? In the warmer months, we like to compost our scraps. But in the winter months, it is too cold for the food to break down. I was talking to a friend about what her family does during the winter months and she suggested making homemade vegetable broth. I found this recipe online and tried it for the first time over the weekend- it was easy and delicious! Now, I am keeping a large bag in the freezer to store my veggie scraps to make flavorful, homemade broth!
And I used the broth when I made stir-fry for dinner on Sunday; instead of using water when I cooked the rice, I used the broth to add more flavor.
Basic Vegetable Broth
Makes: about 6 cups
1 T. olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 large onions, rough chopped
3 ribs celery, rough chopped
3 carrots, rough chopped
8 cups water
2-3 cups of frozen vegetable scraps
2 bay leaves
A few sprigs of parsley and thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, onions, celery and carrots to the pan and cook until softened, approximately 5 minutes, stirring often. Pour in the water and then add the vegetable scraps, bay leaves, parsley, and thyme. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered for about 45 minutes. Pour the broth through a strainer into glass storage jars. Discard the solids. Once the broth has cooled, store in the fridge or freezer. Adapted from: OhMyVeggies.com
Have you tried this before? What are your favorite ways to use veggie scraps?