In order to meet dietary requirements, I needed a base that contained neither sugar nor yeast, so I decided to make my own. After scouring the internet for recipes, I found some common themes, but mostly what I discovered is that a good vegetable base can be made from just about any combination of vegetables. The one commonality across all of the recipes was the use of carrots, celery and onion.
I wanted something I could quickly throw together and stick in a slow cooker for the day. So, this is the combination of vegetables that worked for me and made a delicious base for cooking. I used it in my Vegetable Soup the other day at church, and everyone commented on how good the soup was.
I also read several recommendations about saving your vegetable scraps in the freezer until you have enough to make a broth. I like this idea and already have a gallon-size baggie in my freezer in which I've started saving scraps. Carrot peelings, onion skins, ends of onions, celery, tomatoes, celery leaves, etc. The one thing that you need to make sure you do if you're going to go the scrap route is to clean everything really well (i.e., scrub your carrots before peeling them) because any dirt on that scraps will end up in your vegetable base. I can't wait to try out a scraps method!
I also read several recommendations about saving your vegetable scraps in the freezer until you have enough to make a broth. I like this idea and already have a gallon-size baggie in my freezer in which I've started saving scraps. Carrot peelings, onion skins, ends of onions, celery, tomatoes, celery leaves, etc. The one thing that you need to make sure you do if you're going to go the scrap route is to clean everything really well (i.e., scrub your carrots before peeling them) because any dirt on that scraps will end up in your vegetable base. I can't wait to try out a scraps method!
In the meantime, here's my recipe:
Ingredients
4 carrots
4 celery ribs
1 large yellow onion
2 leeks
1 shallot
1 russet potato
1 tomato
Vegetable or olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Sprigs of thyme
Sprigs of parsley
Pepper to taste
5 qt. slow cooker (or larger)
Directions
Clean vegetables well and cut into large chunks. Don't worry about peeling any of the vegetables (including the onions and shallots). Just clean everything really well. Include the tips and ends that you might normally discard. Everything goes in!
In a large pan with a minimal amount of vegetable oil or olive oil, sweat the vegetables over medium-low heat with 2 tsp of salt until vegetables have started to become soft. Do not brown vegetables.
Once vegetables are soft, add some water to the pan and then pour water and all vegetables into the slow cooker. (Adding the water ensures that you get all the pan juices that were released while sweating the vegetables.)
Add a few sprigs of thyme and parsley, the soy sauce (or Tamari), and pepper to taste. Add water to maximum fill point for your slow cooker. If you have a significantly larger slow cooker than 5 quarts, you may want to adjust the water so that it covers the vegetables by a few inches.
Cook on high for 7-8 hours. Strain liquids into freezer containers and let cool. Once cooled, these can be stored in the freezer until you are ready to use them. They can be stored in the refrigerator for several days as well.
Update: I have tried the scraps method a number of times now, and I really like it. I keep my scraps in gallon-size freezer bags until I have enough to for one batch in my slow cooker. I have a 5-qt. slow cooker, and I typically use 1-1½ bags. I save all kinds of veggie scraps, including onions, carrots, celery, potato, tomato, asparagus, broccoli, etc. The first 3 things in that list are the things I used most in the kitchen, so I generally have more of those than anything else, and that seems to work well. After some trial and error, I have started to always add leeks and shallots. I don't always have those as scraps, so I will cut some up and add them to the scraps. It makes a huge difference in flavor.
I also have limited how much of the outer peels of the onion I use. When I started saving only scraps, the vast majority of my onion scraps came from the outer brown peels, and this gave my broth a burnt taste that I didn't care for as much. So now, I save about have of the brown peels, and all of the inner onion scraps. This proportion has worked really well.
I use the same directions as above (including sweating the veggies), but with scraps, you don't have to do the cutting prep because that's basically done already as you save your scraps. I love the scrap method! It's less expensive because I'm using parts of vegetables that I would normally have thrown onto the compost pile anyway, so I don't have to buy extra vegetables just for the broth. On top of that, I'm also not spending money on purchasing pre-packaged vegetable broth. In my opinion, the flavor is better than pre-packaged broth as well, and the addition of the other vegetables that get added to the scrap pile adds a depth of flavor to the broth.
Generally, when I'm cooking every day (some weeks I don't because we're either eating out or I've prepared a large casserole meal that lasts us for several days), I generate enough scraps for a batch of the broth. This allows me to make the broth on a Saturday, and then have enough for all my cooking needs for the week. It's very little work for a big payout!
Update: I have tried the scraps method a number of times now, and I really like it. I keep my scraps in gallon-size freezer bags until I have enough to for one batch in my slow cooker. I have a 5-qt. slow cooker, and I typically use 1-1½ bags. I save all kinds of veggie scraps, including onions, carrots, celery, potato, tomato, asparagus, broccoli, etc. The first 3 things in that list are the things I used most in the kitchen, so I generally have more of those than anything else, and that seems to work well. After some trial and error, I have started to always add leeks and shallots. I don't always have those as scraps, so I will cut some up and add them to the scraps. It makes a huge difference in flavor.
I also have limited how much of the outer peels of the onion I use. When I started saving only scraps, the vast majority of my onion scraps came from the outer brown peels, and this gave my broth a burnt taste that I didn't care for as much. So now, I save about have of the brown peels, and all of the inner onion scraps. This proportion has worked really well.
I use the same directions as above (including sweating the veggies), but with scraps, you don't have to do the cutting prep because that's basically done already as you save your scraps. I love the scrap method! It's less expensive because I'm using parts of vegetables that I would normally have thrown onto the compost pile anyway, so I don't have to buy extra vegetables just for the broth. On top of that, I'm also not spending money on purchasing pre-packaged vegetable broth. In my opinion, the flavor is better than pre-packaged broth as well, and the addition of the other vegetables that get added to the scrap pile adds a depth of flavor to the broth.
Generally, when I'm cooking every day (some weeks I don't because we're either eating out or I've prepared a large casserole meal that lasts us for several days), I generate enough scraps for a batch of the broth. This allows me to make the broth on a Saturday, and then have enough for all my cooking needs for the week. It's very little work for a big payout!
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