Plant Food

This recipe is made up of three components: aromatics, mushrooms (umami), and herbs. Use what you have on hand (dried or fresh) and what’s in season to fill in the gaps. This broth is great on it’s own with pasta or as the liquid for cooking rice, or can be used as the base for other recipes. Since it’s unsalted, if you’re used to using bouillon, add salt to compensate when cooking.



INGREDIENTS

• Aromatics - half an onion or a whole leek, a head of garlic sliced in half, floppy carrots and
celery stored as scraps in the freezer, a couple of bay leaves
• Umami - a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms, two handfuls of lion’s mane mushrooms torn
into pieces (the more surface area, that better), parm rinds
• Herbs - sage leaves, oregano, parsley, garlic chive flowers, calendula heads, green cilantro pods, chamomile
• Water, to cover

METHOD

1. Begin by roasting your aromatics (and fresh mushrooms if you desire). Add them to a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt lightly. Roast until their bottoms are caramelized, finishing with a broil to aid with browning if necessary.
2. Add everything to a big pot, leaving out herbs till later if you plan to simmer for longer than an hour.
3. Fill up with water to cover, bring to a low boil and turn down to a simmer.
4. Simmer for about an hour, checking the water level occasionally.
5. Add some to a mug with a sprinkle of salt, for tasting. If you’d like the flavor to be punchier, strain to remove solids and continue to reduce in the pot.