If you have a recipe that calls for broth this season – and most of us do – plan ahead and create your own broth from scratch instead of opting for the store-bought variety.
The best broth recipe I have ever executed calls for tamari, a variety of soy sauce that is richer and naturally fermented, but standard soy sauce will suffice. I do not recommend using the reduced sodium version and if you can find tamari, it adds a level of depth that soy sauce can’t add. Whole Foods carries several brands of tamari and I can occasionally find it at Safeway, Bel Air or Savemart.
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| Pre-broth veggies |
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| Boiling broth, squeezing flavor out of the veggies |
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| Ready-to-use broth, shimmering! |
Best vegetarian broth
Adapted from Robin Robertson’s cookbook, Quick Fix Vegetarian
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 onions coarsely chopped
4 unbleached carrots, coarsely chopped
3 potatoes, quartered
4 celery ribs, including leaves, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
12 cups water
2 tablespoons tamari (a variety of soy sauce that is richer and naturally fermented)
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper or whole peppercorns
Scrub all vegetables thoroughly, preferably with a vegetable brush. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the carrots, potatoes, onions, celery and garlic. Cover and cook until slightly softened, about 5-10 minutes. Add the water, tamari or soy sauce, parsley, bay leaves, salt and pepper or peppercorns. Bring to a boil then decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer for 60 to 75 minutes.
Strain the liquid through a mesh sieve into another pot, pressing the liquid of out of the vegetables with a large wooden spoon. The broth is now ready to use. For stronger broth, bring the broth back to a boil, and reduce the volume by ¼.
Yields at least 8 cups. Refrigerated broth will keep for 4-7 days and portioned containers of broth will last in the freezer for 3-4 months.
