This recipe is a staple in my kitchen. I use it in nearly all of my vegetarian recipes to add flavor and calories but it can be used as a substitute for broth in any recipe.
I prefer making broth in a slow cooker because it doesn’t require much attention. I use a 4 quart slow cooker which makes about 2 quarts of broth. This homemade broth only lasts about three days in the fridge so I cook it in small batches to avoid waste.
Start saving veggie scraps before you plan to make this recipe. Avoid adding eggplant skins, tomatoes, avocados, potatoes, potato skins and corn husks to your medley. Pepper seeds will make the broth a little spicy but that isn’t a bad thing in my opinion.
Good scraps to use are celery ends, broccoli stems, carrots tops and peels, green onions, garlic skins, mushroom stems, dried-out herbs, leafy green stalks, bell peppers or most vegetables that you have on hand. Include at least three kinds of vegetables in each batch of broth so you don’t end up with broth that only tastes like celery. You can use whole vegetables as well but cut them up or puncture them so they don’t float.
A lot of the color in these broths comes from onion skins and leafy greens, so don’t be skimpy with those.
Vegetable Scrap Broth
1 G freezer bag of Fresh or frozen vegetable scraps
3 whole bay leaves
1.5 t minced garlic
2 medium brown or yellow onion
1 C mushrooms
2 T apple cider vinegar
Leaving skins on, coarsely chop onions and add to slow-cooker. Add garlic, bay leaves and apple cider vinegar. Cover with water, leaving about an inch of space at the top. Let this cook for 12 hours on low heat, stirring regularly.
Pour contents of the slow cooker the through a fine, mesh sieve over a large bowl. Make sure that nothing solid made it through and pour into the container of your choice.
Add to any dish that you would normally use broth in and enjoy.
Baking It to the Streets 