Serves: 5

Cores from bell peppers, cabbages, cauliflower, corn, tomatoes, and other vegetables
Peelings from asparagus, carrots, celery root, ginger, kohlrabi, rutabagas, sunchokes, turnips, and other vegetables
Stems from broccoli, collard greens, green beans, herbs, kale, msuhrooms, Swiss chard, watercress, and other vegetables
Tops and bottoms from carrots, celery, green beans, leeks, onions, zuchini, and other vegetables
Trimmings from bell peppers, cabbages, carrots, fennel, garlic, onions, peas, and other vegetables

Save and refrigerate items from the above list for up to 3 days. Rinse thoroughly and discard anything you can’t properly clean. Put the ingredients in a pot. Add water until it covers the ingredients by 1 to 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes. Pour the broth through a fine-mesh strainer before using.

Stored in a sealed container, Vegetable Broth will keep for 7 to 10 days in the refrigerator and 6 months in the freezer. (Let the broth cool to room temperature before refrigerating or freezing it.)

Notes
• Not all of the above ingredients are edible, but they are full of flavor. Save them and use them according to your preferences. The few items I don’t use are artichoke and eggplant trimmings and the outer layers of onions, which all tend to make a bitter-flavored stock.
• For additional flavor, try adding bay leaves, celery seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and peppercorns.
• There are a number of incentives for making broth at home (besides great taste). For example, it’s economical. Every quart of vegetable broth you buy at the store costs a few dollars, but homemade broth is made from scraps you would otherwise discard or compost. In addition, it won’t have any unnatural flavorings or additives.
• Frozen broth frequently comes in handy. If you cook for two people, freeze the broth in pint containers. If you cook for four people, freeze the broth in quart containers. If you often need just a small amount of broth to steam-fry vegetables, freeze some broth in ice-cube trays and pop out a cube whenever you need one.
• If you are not sure whether making broth is worthwhile, make a pot of this wonderful broth and drink a cup of it while it is still hot, just as if it were a hot cup of tea. Then ask yourself whether you want to cook rice or make other recipes with plain water or flavorful homemade broth.

More Recipes from the Bravo Cookbook:
Steaming Vegetables
Cooking Rice
Cooking in Dry Pots and Pans
Preparing Dried Legumes for Cooking
Roasting Garlic
Roasting Peppers
Toasting Nuts and Seeds
Blanching Herbs
Juicing Fruits and Vegetables without a Juicer
Cutting Corn Kernels from the Cob
Cleaning and Using Leeks
Vegetable Broth
Asian Broth
Cooked Garbanzo Beans
Polenta Crusts or Croutons
Tamale Dough
Nutty Dough
Coconut Vanilla Granola