How To Make Your Own Vegetable Broth Out Of Food Scraps

Because I do not compost in my apartment, I have started saving my vegetable scraps from cooking in the freezer in a reusable freezer-safe bag (I’m always trying to reduce my plastic waste in the kitchen, even though they can be a pain to clean). It may seem silly to store food waste, but I bring new life from the discarded bits of my favorite vegetables and herbs by simmering them into a tasty broth. Making my own vegetable broth helps me save money on groceries and add an extra-rich, homemade flavor to soups and stews (or, if I’m being honest, my favorite wild mushroom risotto). Sam Schipani | BDN Sam Schipani | BDN A bag and a jar filled with frozen vegetable scraps to be used for broth or stock. Almost all your vegetable kitchen scraps can go into this broth: onion tops, bottoms and skins; green onion scraps, if you aren’t regrowing them; garlic skins; mushroom stems; celery tops and bottoms; and potato skins (though blogger Jessica in the Kitchen warns that potatoes can make broth look cloudy). You can also add sweet vegetables like corn, squash, fennel, chard, lettuce, parsnips, green beans, pea pods, peppers, eggplant and asparagus.