Many traditional diets incorporate broths made from vegetables and/or bones slow cooked in water. The long cooking process extracts flavour and nutrients directly into the cooking water. The resulting broth is a highly nutritious, mineral-rich drink, which is an absorbable form for the body to use.

Broths are made from vegetables and/or bones slow cooked in water. The long cooking process extracts flavour and nutrients directly into the cooking water. The resulting broth is a highly nutritious, mineral-rich drink, which is an absorbable form for the body to use. Broths are ideal when detoxing or when you want to reduce digestive stress.

Vegetable Broth 

This slow cooked vegetable broth is rich in minerals. It has a mild, sweet flavour and may be drunk when detoxing or when you want to lower digestive stress. If you want to use a different selection of vegetables, use root vegetables and/or mushrooms but avoid cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage etc) as they can overpower the stock and make it taste bitter.

Ingredients

3 litres filtered water
4 Carrots
1 Sweet Potato
1 Leek
1 Onion
3-4 cloves Garlic
1 inch of chopped Ginger 
Strip of Kombu (or any other seaweed like 1 tsp of ground kelp)
1 cup Parsley stems (may use coriander or other herbs)
1 tsp Pepper corns (optional)
1 tsp dried nettle (optional, omit if you do not like the taste)
1 tsp dried dandelion (optional, omit if you do not like the taste)

Method 

1. Chop all ingredients and add to water
    
2. Bring to boil
3. Simmer for 2-4 hours or until stock is flavourful
4. Remove cooked vegetables from the broth. Cooked vegetables may be blended and added to thicken soups, stews, curries etc

Bone Broth

Bones from fish, lamb, chicken etc  are ideal for making broths. Bones are rich in minerals and gelatin which can help to keep collagen containing structures within the body healthy. Gelatin has also been found to help repair inflammation in the mucous membranes of the GI tract.

To prepare broth, slow cook bones in water but add an acid to maximise removal of minerals from the bones. Bone broth may be drunk on its own or for a nourishing meal add further vegetables, grains, beans, meat etc to the broth.

Ingredients

1 kg bones (chicken, fish, lamb or beef)
1 litre water
2 tbsp acid (vinegar, lemon juice) – Acidity helps to pull minerals out of the bones

Method

1. Add water to bones
2. Add acid
3. Bring up to the boil
4. Remove any froth and impurities which form on the surface
5. Cook long and slow by simmering for 12-24 hours
6. Remove bones from broth. Bones may be reused if required to make further broth. See continuous bone broth

Related Articles

See my blog recipe turkey bone broth and quick bone broth