Simple Veggie Broth Base
- 2 onions, diced
- 3 celery stalks, chopped (including leafy parts)
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 2 bay leafs
- 3 cloves of garlic, diced
- ginger to taste (usually I start with a thumbnail's worth)
- olive oil
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- sea salt
- water
1) Add oil to a large pot (just enough to cover the bottom surface of the pan) and heat over medium-high temperature. Add your onions and stir. Let onions sweat for at least 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2) When the onions start to look translucent, add celery and carrots. Stir and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
3) Add garlic. Season with salt. Stir and cook another 5 minutes.
4) Add water (the less amount of water you add, the stronger the soup base will be. Keep in mind this will result in less soup. Since this is a base, I suggest you fill the pot 3/4 of the way).
5) Add bay leaves and ginger. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to minimum (just warm enough to simmer it) and cover with a lid. Let the soup simmer for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add apple cider vinegar.
6) Season to taste. Remove bay leaves.
Now, you can do one of two things:
a) strain soup and discard veggies
b) put veggies in a blender/food processor and blend with soup liquid to create a thicker soup base. Add back to broth.
For anyone who has never made a soup from scratch, here is a simple way to create a broth base. You can make this, pour it into glass containers and freeze it until you want to make a more complex soup from it. It's easier to make soups from a base instead of having to start from scratch every time.
You could add any veggies or meat you want to this soup recipe. I encourage you to. The more veggies, the more taste it will have. I just find using the "trilogy" (onions, carrots, celery) produces the best taste for a foundation that works in all soups you might want to use it for later.