One person's trash is another person's treasure — or, in this case, 'liquid gold!' TikToker Ava (@glowwithava) unveiled a clever hack for making homemade vegetable broth that promotes waste reduction and boosts health. By utilizing food scraps, you can create a delicious broth while saving money and contributing to sustainability. Let's dive into this practical cooking hack!
Why Waste Food?
Every year, the United States faces a staggering food waste issue, with approximately 92 billion pounds of food discarded, valued at an outrageous $473 billion. This scenario not only leads to lost resources but also generates harmful methane emissions in landfills. Ava encourages us to rethink our food habits by turning leftovers into flavorful meals. By implementing her simple recipe, you can do your part in addressing this crisis while saving on grocery bills.
Ava's Clever Broth-Making Steps
Ava's homemade vegetable broth recipe is straightforward and doesn't require any expensive or hard-to-find ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or ghee butter (or both!)
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 freezer bag full of veggie scraps (such as onion ends, leftover herbs, broccoli stems, squash skins, mushroom ends, radish tops, and celery ends)
- 10-12 cups water
- 3 bay leaves
- Fresh thyme leaves (or dried for convenience)
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Follow these steps
1. Heat the olive oil or ghee in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic, sautéing until golden brown.
2. Toss in all the veggie scraps, followed by the water, bay leaves, thyme, and seasonings. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
3. Let it cook for about 45 minutes until the broth is rich with flavor.
4. Strain out the vegetable scraps and store the broth in containers. It’s best used within a week.
By making your broth, you can unlock a wealth of flavors while ensuring nothing goes to waste!
Flavor and Health Benefits of Homemade Broth
Ava highlights another advantage: the diversity of flavors. Since the ingredients vary with each batch of homemade vegetable broth, it's an exciting experience every time. This variability allows for a unique taste that store-bought broths often lack.
Moreover, the immunity boosting recipes you can create with this base broth extend beyond just taste. Consuming homemade broth has numerous health benefits, potentially enhancing your immune system and improving skin quality. Nutrients from the vegetable scraps — particularly from those loaded with vitamins and minerals — can contribute to overall wellness.
Cost-Effective Cooking Ideas
Maximizing every scrap not only reduces waste but also leads to cost-effective cooking ideas. By opting for homemade broth, you're investing in your kitchen skills while cutting down the regular expenses associated with buying packaged broth. Imagine transforming those forgotten veggie scraps into hearty soups or culinary bases for various dishes without spending a dime!
Here are a few suggestions to incorporate your broth into meals
- Use it as a base for soups, stews, or risottos.
- Create flavorful sauces or gravies.
- Incorporate into grain recipes, such as quinoa or rice, for added flavor.
Sustainable Cooking Hacks for Every Kitchen
Embarking on a journey towards sustainable cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. In addition to Ava's reduce food waste tips, consider these simple hacks to further enhance your culinary sustainability
- Compost: Any scraps you cannot use can still contribute to soil health through composting.
- Plan Meals: Design meals around what you already have and aim to use up perishable items first.
- Save Leftovers: Utilize leftover meals creatively rather than letting them sit in the fridge to be forgotten.
Community Support and Engagement
The TikTok community has been inspired by Ava’s innovative cooking hack. Many commenters applaud her for thinking outside the box, sharing tips, and reminiscing about using various components in their kitchens. These conversations further emphasize the importance of collective action towards minimizing waste and making sustainable choices.
One follower noted, “I already use bones to make broth, should save the veggie scraps too!” This highlights how many have already started embracing similar practices, ensuring that the leftover veggies don’t become waste but an essential part of the cooking process.
Final Thoughts
Cooking for sustainability doesn't mean sacrificing flavor or enjoyment. Ava’s homemade vegetable broth recipe serves as a reminder that we can transform our cooking habits to benefit both our wallets and the planet. By reallocating vegetable scraps into a nutritious broth, you join the movement of conscious cooking that prioritizes saving the environment while enhancing your culinary repertoire.
Give Ava's broth-making hack a try, and join the ranks of those who believe that every scrap counts. Not only will your tastebuds thank you, but your wallet — and the planet — will too. Happy cooking!