Ready stock cubes
The fastest way to prepare broth for soup, everyone will say, is a stock cube. However, it has little to do with a healthy, nutritious broth. In the warehouse you will find salt in the first place, followed by salt flavor enhancers, a little animal fat and dried vegetables. In a word, nothing that could put the body on its feet. Especially monosodium glutamate doesn’t bode well. The nutritionist Karolina Łąkowska wrote about its impact on health.
In vegetarian cubes, salt also comes first, then vegetable fats and finally dried vegetables. There are many more of them than in traditional cubes, but still far from home soup.
Traditional broth
What are the properties of the broth? What does it give your body? It may not be the least caloric dish (especially the one made from fatty meats), but it does unique taste, aroma and value. Thanks to the presence of vegetables and meat, it becomes a source of minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, but also collagen and hyaluronic acid. There are also vitamins A and E. All these ingredients have a beneficial effect on the body, including joints and skin. Research shows that broth can reduce inflammation and strengthen the body in the fight against intruders. Hence his fame in the period of colds and flu.
Vegetarian broth
Equally delicious and warm, and at the same time less caloric, is a broth made exclusively from vegetables. It is rich in nutrients that will pass from vegetables to soup. But how to get a taste comparable to traditional broth in its case? The answer is proper seasoning and choosing the ingredients. In order for it to have a deep, distinctive aroma, you need the addition of umami, i.e. a product that will replace the meat flavor. It will do great here soy sauce or tamari. However, there are also other umami flavored articles like seaweed (e.g. nori, kombu, dulse), ripe tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, long-maturing cheeses, seafood. Each of these products can easily be included in the broth. However, when adding tomatoes or asparagus, treat them as a spice and add a little. You don’t want to make asparagus or tomato soup. They only have to add a delicate note to the broth. Likewise with mushrooms.
Don’t forget about herbs like parsley, lovage or bay leaf. You can also reach for thyme, rosemary, basil or oregano. They will add flavor to the soup. However, do not overdo it with their number and the multitude of types. Herbs are meant to work together, not to compete. It is best to choose 3-4 types.
Of course, vegetables are the basis. The broth must not be complete without carrots, celery, onions and parsley. You can add a little cabbage, which also has a slight umami note. However, there shouldn’t be too much of it. It is also perfect parsnips, zucchini, chard, peppers, green beans, eggplant, and garlic. Don’t forget a little oilin which the flavors will spread, and o turmericthat will give a beautiful color.
Ingredients:
3 carrots, celery, 2 parsley roots, leek, onion (with peel baked at the burner), a piece of cabbage, 1 dried mushroom, a clove of garlic
A tablespoon of oil
Parsley, lovage
Bay leaf, allspice, peppercorns, crushed fenugreek, turmeric, spoon of soy sauce, salt
8 glasses of water
If you will strain the broth, crush the vegetables. Pour water into the pot, add spices and parsley, salt. Add vegetables, mushrooms and oil. Simmer for about an hour. Season before serving.
Main photo is from: Photo credit: ironypoisoning / Foter / CC BY-SA
The photo in the content is from: mhaller1979 / Foter / CC BY