Nourishing Broths & Soul-Warming Soups: A Winter Essential

A good broth is the foundation of countless comforting meals, offering both rich flavor and powerful nutrition. This guide will show you how to make a deeply nourishing broth and a simple, delicious pho to warm you from the inside out.

Broth Recipe

After a food shop for vegetables, cut off excess cauliflower leaves, carrot or beetroot tops, and any other vegetable matter and put in the frezer for later until ready to make the stock. You can add vegetables that are a bit wilted or dried such as mushrooms, lettuce or anything else you haven’t used for the week.

Roasting vegetables intensifies the flavour and makes the stock really delicious. Roast garlic and onion in the skin as this is super healthy and adds flavour. Add any root vegetables, swede, potato, sweet potato etc also leaving the skin on as this is a really nutritious part of the vegetable. If you’re making a bone broth, add bones to your roasting dish. After roasting, chop the vegetables in quarters and add to your other vegetable scraps.

Find a large pot, we have one that is about 20 litres. Fill it half to three quarters full of vegetable matter, including the roast veggies and bones if you have added them. You can also add things like fennel for flavour and great for digestion. Add ginger, anything you have growing in the garden, herbs such as thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary or anything else you want to add. Some seaweed such as Wakame or Kombu is great as a detoxifier. It can help detoxify heavy metals and is great for the thyroid.

Cover the vegetables with cold water and bring to the boil. Cook at a low simmer for 12 hours, watching there is enough water. Strain off the vegetables and the liquid left you can freeze as it is or reduce it further if you want to intensify the flavour.

We freeze ours in ice cube trays so you can add one or 4 to any dish you want to add some good flavour and nutrition too. 

PHO Recipe

1 Onion chopped
4 Garlic cloves chopped
2 cm Ginger chopped or grated
Spice blend in grinder
3 Star anise
10 Cloves
1 Stick of cinnamon
1 Cup of stock
3 Cups of water
1 Carrot chopped
1 Celery stick chopped
1 Head of broccoli chopped
1 Handful of mushrooms chopped
1 Zucchini chopped
1 Handful of spinach
1 bunch of coriander chopped
Chilli to taste (if you enjoy chilli)
1 Lemon juiced

In a large saucepan, fry the onion, garlic and ginger until soft. Add the spice blend and stir for a minute or two. Add the vegetables except Spinach and Coriander and stir so they get some covering of spices. Add the stock and water and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes so the vegetables are cooked but not too soft. Add the spinach, chilli, coriander and lemon juice and stir. For a meat pho, add organic chicken or other preferred meat.

Enjoy x

With just a few simple ingredients and a little time, you can create a nutrient-packed broth that enhances any meal. Whether enjoyed on its own or as the base for a hearty soup, this is winter comfort food at its finest.