You know the pile of veggie butts you have at the edge of your cutting board when you finish chopping for tonight's delicious side dish? Retain those little ends, funky stalks and baby leaves for a super handy veggie broth.
It's so simple, that I can't even believe I'm posting about it. Just throw those sad things into a pot and cover with water. Add salt (extra salt for those CF-ers please!), pepper corns, a smashed garlic clove or two and boil away! I let mine simmer for a couple hours.
Then drain the broth into a bowl, let it cool and there you go! You can even freeze the broth in plastic freezer baggies. Measure it out, 1 cup per bag and then you'll know exactly how much to thaw when it's needed.
It comes in handy when a recipe calls for some chicken broth and you've got none, hun!
Here's what I usually put in: broccoli and cauliflower stems and leaves, celery butts and tops with the leaves, slightly dry onion from the back of the produce drawer, zucchini butts (like the little chunks that are left after making zoodles), bell pepper heads.... anything, really!
But what if you're only cutting up a head of broccoli and it's not enough 'waste' for a broth? Just stick the ends in a freezer bag and save for the next time you have useless veggie parts.
