Homemade Vegetable Broth

Homemade Vegetable Broth

Ingredients:
Vegetables or scraps (see directions)
a clove or two of garlic (optional)
Bay leaf
8-9 cups of water
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste (or 1 tsp. peppercorns)

Directions:
Whenever I cut up an onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, zucchini, squash, cabbage, asparagus, ect. I do NOT throw away the ends. I put the scraps (ends) in a gallon size Ziploc bag and keep it in the freezer until it's full of vegetable scraps. Once it gets full I use it to make a big pot of homemade veggie broth. You can use fresh cut up vegetables for this but I learned (from Google and YouTube) that using the scraps is just as good. Put in a big pot and add garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns (if using) and water (use enough to cover all veggies). Let come to a boil on medium high heat then turn down to low and let cook covered for 1 hour. Keep checking every 20 min. or so to be sure your water is not cooking out. Add salt and pepper to taste. Strain the broth from veggies and add to mason jars or containers to cool down. I like to put mine in ice cube trays to freeze then keep cubes in Ziploc bag until ready to use. (I refrigerate the broth first to get completely cold before adding to trays to put in freezer.)

Note: 8 cubes = 1 cup broth. Also when I cut up an onion I throw away the outer skin layer but keep the inner skin layer in my bag of scraps. I believe that's what makes the broth that dark color. Sometimes I add a tomato when cooking the broth and I haven't noticed a difference in the look of it.