Plant Based Healing Vegetable Broth
In culinary school, I’ve made my fair amount of stocks and broths. You add a chicken or animal carcass with or without meat. Add mirepoix (a mix of onions, celery, and carrots) with some herbs and spices. You boil the heck of out it and skim off the gross stuff that floats to the top. This stock or broth then becomes the base for any number of soups or sauces in the kitchen. The stockpot in a kitchen is always a great place to throw peels, odds, and ends. Once it cools the stock or broth takes on a jelly-like appearance. This is because of the collagen that we leeched from the bones in the animal carcass.
The stocks we made became the base for delicious soups or sauces. Now bone broth is front and center of a lot of health and wellness advocates. Bone broth is everywhere on the store shelves and people are touting its health benefits. Most claim that it aids in digestion, leaky gut, and human collagen production. However, there are no definitive studies that back up any of these claims. Dietary collagen does not translate to your own collagen creation. (1) There has been no research showing that bone broth can aid in digestion or help a “leaky gut”. (2) And this is important, not only to save you money and time but also to discuss a very important point that I’ve discovered in all my own research.
There is no one “miracle food”. There is no one food or meal that will cure all your ailments, aches or pains. It’s through a balanced approach of getting lots of plant foods that help your body heal. It is a balance that works right for you where you are right now.
That being said, broths are a wonderful way to stay hydrated and warm during the winter months. And I enjoy their flavor when I don’t want herbal tea or hot water. I’ve created a very simple broth with tons of flavor to be enjoyed all year long if you like. In this recipe, I’ve tried my best to add some healing foods I have researched and found to work for me. That is ginger, turmeric, garlic, and shitake mushrooms.
Ginger can aid in digestion, help inflammation as well as possibly prevent colds (3)
Tumeric is an anti-inflammatory and has a whole host of benefits. Checkout my turmeric tea recipe for more information
Shitake mushrooms may help boost immunity and lower inflammation. However, it is important to note few human studies exist in the benefits of shitake mushrooms. (4)
Garlic can be good for heart health and help prevent colds with continued use. (5)
This plant-based, healing broth will keep you warm and hopefully help you get better when you are feeling sick. But again, this broth is not a miracle cure. If you are sick please seek the advice of a medical professional. I do believe in the power of plants to heal but it’s important to work with a trusted professional in your life. This is to make sure you’re getting the best, holistic care possible.
This broth is also a great addition to any soups or sauces that may call for vegetable broth. Please feel free to save up your vegetable scraps for this recipe. The best way to do this is to have a designated container in your freezer that you add your scraps to over the course of a few weeks. Pull out what you need to make your vegetable broth when you've saved enough.
Whether you’re looking for a new pantry staple or trying to get over a cold, I wish you all health, happiness, and abundance.
Plant Based Healing Vegetable Broth
Ali Lawrence | 1/24/20
- prep time: 10 minutes
- cook time: 2 to 6 hours
- total time: 6 hours
Servings: 2 quarts
Ingredients:
- 3 small carrots or 1 cups carrot peels
- 3 small celery stalks or 3/4 cup celery scraps
- 1 small onion or 1 cup onion scraps
- 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger
- 1/2 inch piece of fresh tumeric (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 dried morel mushroom (optional)
- 2 or 3 dried shitake mushrooms
- 8 cups of water
Instructions:
- Chop all ingredients roughly and crush the garlic. It doesn't have to be perfect.
- Place all ingredients in a 3 quart saucepan on the stove or into a crock pot.
- Pour over the water
- Cook your broth on the stove on low heat for at least an hour and a half, up to 3 hours, covered. Alternatively, cook in a crockpot on low for up to 6 hours.
- Once the broth is done, strain out all of the vegetables and enjoy the broth, or refridgerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.
Note: Tumeric stains plastic containers, so keep the broth in a glass container, or a container you don't mind being turned yellow.