If I have learned anything from Anita over the last 28 years is that food should never be boring. It should always taste amazing. And it is no different for plant based last week in our episode, we shared how to level up your grain balls. If you haven't caught that episode, go back and take a listen to it's episode 139. One of our strategies is using vegetable broth in your grain when you cook it. But what if you've tried veggie broth in the past and haven't really liked them, they lacked flavor. Or maybe you want to make your own because you want to know what's in it, but you're not really sure where to begin. Well, if that is you, you are in for a nice surprise. Because this week in our membership, we shared all about how to make your own very flavorful, very easy veggie broth. And we decided it was just too good not to share. So this week's episode is taken from that training. And after you're done, you'll be a broth master to

Hey there, Sunshine! Welcome to the Power On Plants podcast, where your host, Jarrod and Anita Roussel and we're absolutely head over heels for whole plant foods, and helping you navigate this incredible plant based journey. That's because our lives have been completely changed by plant based goodness, we used to struggle everyday with excess pounds and low energy, vascular disease, joint pain and lack of sleep just to name a few. And even though we're medical professionals, we still weren't getting practical answers that actually worked. So we dug into the research, we started living what we learned. And now we both have our lives back. And that's what we want for you too. The truth is you can do this, and it's not hard, you just need a way that will bring real and lasting change. And that path, it has to be simple and enjoyable. And it's got to be delicious, too. So are you ready to live your life to the fullest, then you're in the right place because Living without limits. That's what power on plants is all about. So pull up your chair, grab a matcha latte, and let's get started. Well, if you've known me for long, you know, I am all about getting the most nutrients and always the best flavor into our feed. Because I know that when you learn how to make veggie love that will actually love you back, you found a life changing way to live that is sustainable. In last week's episode of the power on plants podcast Chairman and I shared the very best ways to get fantastic flavor into your grains. So if you haven't heard that podcast episode, tune into number 139 of the power plants podcast to listen as soon as possible. One of the methods we shared is how to use broth instead of water when you're cooking your grains. It's incredible how this one little change can transform a dish from May to wow, adding a lot more flavor to your meals and that's what we're going for. Now. You can get your vegetable broth from the store. It's super convenient if you're in a time crunch, but I never really found a store brought that actually like if you do have a store bought brand new love always be sure to read the label because many times are high in sodium and have other added ingredients that are not good for you like sugar, oil and flavorings, even the natural ones, you just don't want any of those in there. What I want you to see today is that making broth at home is not hard, and it's way less expensive. So today I'm going to give you the exact method for making homemade broth that is really tasty and doable. With real life. This is going to give you a way to prepare vegetable broth that is quick, easy, and also tastes amazing. So first, what are the best ingredients to use. These are the ingredients that have always given me delicious results to medium onions, three stalks of celery and four large carrots, the carrots Allah because they give it a bit of sweetness, you're just going to cut these up rough chop them and about three or four large chunks each and toss them into the pot. And if you want to open the carrot app to release more of its flavor, you can peel it just throw your peel into the broth as well. You don't want to lose inanda nutrients or the flavor. Now, I love the added zing you get when you add tomato paste. So I add about two tablespoons most every time I make a veggie broth. To add more flavor, you can add fresh garlic cloves. And if you love the flavor of garlic, I recommend adding a whole head it really is not very strong at all. All you do is take the whole head I'm not talking about one clip I'm talking about the whole head, cut it in half across, not from the root end to the other end. You're going to cut it across that that's going to expose every clo for you. You can even cut it into about two or three big chunks. Go ahead and toss all those in skin and all the entire head. Just give it a rough chop opening it up so it has contact with the water. It's going to taste them Amazing. Now let's talk about herbs. Some of my favorites are bayleaf and thyme and fresh black peppercorns. I usually add one to two bay leaves. I'll add about a quarter teaspoon of time and I'll also add about one teaspoon of fresh black peppercorns. You don't even have to grind those. You just throw them right into the pot. It is really hard to mess this up. And then what about the liquid 12 cups of water I prefer filtered water for mine now for my secret ingredient. Are you ready? It's miso paste, three tablespoons of Mesa paste I recommend buying organic now we love the brand Mesa master. They have a chickpea miso and a white soy me so that are great for giving a lighter flavor similar to chicken broth read me so will give you more of a rich, beefy type flavor. Think of what you might want to make with your broth ahead of time. And then you're going to choose your Miso based on the dishes that you're gonna put it in. Now, don't worry, if you're not sure what Mesa master looks like in the membership, I'm going to go ahead and put a picture for you here right in the community so you'll know exactly what to look for. You can use other brands as well. I just highly recommend organic and I like the flavor of this brand is really good. So if I'm thinking about making, let's say a potato soup, how would I choose between white or red? Well for potato soup, I would choose more of the chickpea or white me so but if I'm going to make a vegan beefless stew because of the beefy flavor of Redmi so that's what I'm going to pick from my broth. Now. If this sounds confusing, do not worry. I recommend using the white miso or chickpea miso to start because it tastes great and a large variety of dishes and you won't go wrong with that. You can find it in your local grocery stores like Whole Foods, Publix, Greenwise, or your local specialty store as well. Have you ever used Bojan are better than bouillon? Think of me so as a much healthier version of those. It's a great way to flavor your dishes without all the harmful ingredients that are often found in Bojan and with some added health benefits too. Now what if you want to get a bit fancier let's say you've been using this recipe for a while and you want to mix it up, you want to change the flavor around a bit. Once you master the basics, that's a good time to try adding new additions. Ingredients you might consider adding are fresh or dried mushrooms or squash, you could use yellow squash, you could use zucchini, squash, as well as herbs and spices like parsley or Italian seasoning to switch it up a bit. Do not be afraid to try new things. It's often the best way that you're going to discover your new favorites. Now how do you prepare the broth? Well, you can boil it directly on the stovetop for about 30 minutes or just throw all the ingredients right into your instant pot. set it and forget it. Yeah, that kind of dates me with Ron Popeil ads when I was growing up, set it and forget it. I love my instant pot. So you can toss all these ingredients in your instapot set it for about 20 minutes, let it go on manual pressure and there you go release the pressure it's done. You can even use your crock pot overnight but I like the flavor best when using the stovetop or the Instant Pot method it just seems to give a richer flavor to the stock. There is another way to intensify flavor even more. You can lightly brown broth ingredients just before adding the water. It's not necessary but you can give them a light saute. It's just another way to change things up a bit when you're ready. Once the broth is done, you strain out all the vegetables and our pieces and you can either discard them or let your children eat the carrots if they want the carrots. Then cool the remaining broth with the lid covering the pot and once it's cool stored in a mason jar, it's going to last few up to four days in the refrigerator and around five to six months in the freezer. If you're freezing it Do be careful not to overfill to the very top of the jar because when the broth freezes, you know it's going to expand and that could break your jar and you lose your broth which would be really bad. There are some things I recommend though, that you leave out of your broth. These are the stronger flavored vegetables that might overpower the liquid and the flavor such as cruciferous that's things like broccoli or cauliflower, cabbage, those stronger flavors like that. Now there's one more tip I want to share for saving even more money and reducing waste to when you're cutting these vegetables up for your main meals throughout the week, not when you're making broth and just when you're using them for your main meals. I want you to save all your scraps when you're peeling carrots for dish save the peel onion, save the skins and the top carrot save the tops and any into trim off okay and the ends of celery to keep adding all of these into a freezer safe container and when it's full. It's time to make broth Now some people will recommend making a certain type of broth for this dish or a different type of broth for that dish. But it's so much easier for you to just make a larger bag of a batch of a basic, versatile broth that can work in any dish. So instead of adding ginger now to make Asian broth, or adding turnips to create a French broth, which might not work in all your upcoming meals, I want you to reserve the ginger and the turnips add directly to those dishes those Asian or those fresh French dishes you're making, when you're actually making them. This works so much better in the long run, and keeping your broth versus oldies and so many different dishes. Now want you to keep in mind, this is a no salt added recipe, you can add a bit if you like when you're creating the dishes or onto your plate directly when you're serving it. That way everyone can season their plated food to their own preferences. Cooking this way will lead you to use less salt. And over time, it's going to help you decrease the amount and your taste buds are going to also just so how do you use vegetable broth. You know, you may be wondering when I've got the broth, what do I do with it. As we recently discussed on the podcast, you can use it for a liquid when you're cooking grains. This adds a wonderful flavor to rice, millet quinoa and your other favorite grains too. You can use it in place of oil to saute. Now when you saute vegetables, I want you to think about no longer using oil, you are not going to miss it and many vegetables often have fat in them that's going to cook out anyway. And they'll have that shine like the onions will still have the shine, you're not going to miss it. So what I want you to do is saute all your vegetables until they are looking a little brown. If you're afraid they're going to start sticking you just add one tablespoon of liquid at a time. If you add any more than that your vegetables are not going to be sauteed they're going to actually boil and you won't get the desired result you're looking for. So when you do add that one tablespoon at a time, if you need liquid, many times you don't because the vegetables kick out plenty of liquid. If you do reach for this broth, reach for it and put it in place of water. It works great and it just bumps up the flavor in your dish. You can also add it to soups added to stews and beans added to sauces and casseroles instead of the water that the recipe might call for. It's gonna give you a much tastier dish and even more nutrients to now you know the exact steps for creating a simple delicious vegetable broth. App shared the best method and ingredients to use, how to store it and the easiest ways to save money and reduce waste all at the same time. I've given you some great ways to cook with it too. So there you have it. veggie broth Made Simple and delicious. If you have any questions, I want you to bring those to the weekly Member q&a and I'll be happy to answer those for you there. I can't wait for you to try this broth. And when you do, I want you to post a picture inside the community or send me a quick email to need it power plants.com And let me know how it goes. I'll see you soon.

See, I told you it'd be packed with a lot of great information. So look, don't be afraid to give this a try. Get in the kitchen. Make yourself some broth. Experiment a little bit. Go in there. Have fun. Listen, when you do this, send us an email. Give us a shout. Let us know how it worked at Anita@poweronplants.com or tag us on Instagram. It's@PowerOnPlantsOfficial. We'd love to see photos of what you create. We've loved having you with us this week and we'll see you next week on Power On Plants.