As Fall starts to transition to Winter, it’s a great time to make medicinal broths to support our immune systems. As a vegetarian, I like to make a nutritious veggie stock with the support of powerful medicinal mushrooms. One of the great things about making a big stock of broth is that you can freeze some of it for later and add the broth to lentils, rice, future soups, or anything else that can be cooked in water or broth. It’s a great way to get nourishing medicinal support on a daily basis through food.
Making a medicinal veggie & mushroom broth can be affordable and easy to do. I keep a bag in the freezer for veggie scraps like onion skins, carrot tops, bell pepper tops, etc. Many veggie odds and ends scraps are great for broths, though you might want to avoid veggies such as cauliflower, brussell sprouts, and kale stems as their taste can be overwhelming in a broth.
I keep a supply of mushrooms to add to the broth. Mushrooms are incredibly medicinal and stimulating to our immune systems. I’m partial to working with Reishi (Ling Zhi in Chinese), a woody mushroom that my ancestors have worked with for thousands of years. Known as a great healer mushroom, Reishi is often used in tonics to support immunity and overall health. Reishi is slightly bitter, which supports your liver and digestive health. Working with Reishi over time can also help relieve anxiety, reduce stress, and relieve fatigue. Unlike certain herbs that you might take as soon as you get a cold or flu (like elderberry or echinacea), I work with Reishi proactively over this season to strengthen my overall body. Other mushrooms like Shiitake and Maitake have similar properties, and if I have them on hand, I’ll add them to the broth as well. You can find Reishi at Chinese medicine and/or herbal stores. I encourage you to make some nourishing medicinal broth for yourself this season!
Medicinal Veggie & Mushroom Broth
Ingredients
Veggie Scraps (Onion skins, garlic skins, carrot tops, broccoli bottoms, bell pepper tops, etc.)
Reishi Slices and/or other Medicinal Mushrooms (One large dried Reishi slice per cup of water)
Water
Instructions
Add all ingredients to a crockpot, cover with water, and let simmer for approximately 8 hours.
Strain, and you have a delicious broth!
If you don’t have a crockpot, you can simmer on low over a stovetop for several (approximately 4 hours depending on heat strength.)
Other Tips
I thoroughly wash my veggie scraps before adding them to the freezer for storage. It’s okay to use veggie bits slightly past their prime, but I won’t add anything that is moldy or far past it’s prime.
After straining the veggies and mushrooms and storing the yummy broth, I sometimes put the veggies and mushrooms back in the crockpot, cover the water, and make a second batch of broth. The second round comes out less strong than the first round, but I find still makes a tasty and nutritious broth.
To freeze the broth for future use, I pour into ice cubes trays and then place in freezer. Then I pop out the ice cubes and add to soups, rice, lentils, etc.
Do you have questions about this broth, or did you try making it? I would love to hear what you think! Feel free to email me.
Thanks to my teacher Elokin Orton-Cheung of Shootingstar Botanicals for first teaching me how to make this delicious broth, and for singing the praises of crockpots until I finally got one!