Easy, Frugal & Vegan Plant-based Penny Stock Recipe (Vegetable Scrap Broth)

Every day we are bombarded with thousands and thousands of adverts (in US people are exposed to about 4000 - 10 000 adverts a day). Some we are aware of and some come more concealed (from influencers to sponsored articles in a news page, fun internet videos to branding on your everyday objects). Lately, as we as the general public are growing more environmentally aware we are also starting to get adverts which promotes a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Some are good (like re-washable face wipes and naturals sponges) and some are simply just wrong and are actually a wolf in a sheep coat (bad companies which just make their branding more green in colour and natural-looking, abusing the word degradable or sells unnecessary items with printed slogans), that is called greenwashing and is targetting unsuspecting consumers.

In reality, the most environmentally and eco-friendly items are the ones you do not buy but already have.

This brings us to today's post and recipe. We produce quite a bit of scrap even if we are trying to be conscious and to cruelty-free and to eat plant-based. We know that throwing it in the general waste bin is not recommended as it decomposes much slower and releases far too much methane trough the process, sometimes the food does not break down at all but mummifies instead. Also, we are loosing out on all the natural and nutritious fertilizers which could be created in composts if we took care of our waste properly.
I have grown up using a compost but was told that cooked food does not belong onto a compost. After looking into it a bit it seems to be a half-truth. Yes, cooked meals do not really belong on composts but it is mainly because they most often contain meat, butter, oils, which do not belong there but cooked / steamed/baked vegetables are most welcomed to join the compost heap.

I have been collecting all my vegetable scraps which would normally be discarded and I have been freezing them in a container in my freezer (the scraps most often consist of onion ends and skins (this creates a wonderful colour of the stock), carrots (adds sweetness), garlic (flavour), parsnip (flavour), shallot (colour and flavour), and any vegetables which somehow went past their best as I did not utilize them on time like mushrooms, herbs, (I try to minimize this of course as much as possible).



Instructions: 

When I have collected a larger amount I place it in a large pot and fill with cold water and add some spices I have at home (that is why it is called a penny stock as it cost only pennies in items you need to use) like salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, allspice.
Options to add for extra flavour if desired (I do not do it often myself): seaweed, shiitake mushrooms, turmeric, herbs, celery, coriander seeds or ginger (for a more oriental taste).

Let is simmer for around 2 hours (no less than an hour, if you are strapped on time us a pressure cooker).

Sieve your broth.

Let your broth cool down and separate into containers to make it practical to use.

TIPs: 
1. This broth is great as the base for soups and sauces. Personally, I use it mostly as a base for mushroom soups and sauces or tomato soups and sauces, lentil stews or as a garlic noodle broth or miso soup.

2. You can reduce your stock even more into small little flavour bombs you can freeze in an ice tray mold and have for cooking.

3. Freezes extremely well.