Chicken Broth (could easily be veggie broth) Recipe

Today I decided why not make something nutrient dense and simple that requires extremely minimal effort.  My mind quickly decided on a chicken broth.  A chicken carcass has been frozen in my freezer so I decided to put it to good use by leeching the nutrients out of it into a broth that can easily be the base of many meals.  Broth is a great flavor enhancer and nutrient booster to use instead of water.  Super-market ready broths are way too high in salt content so making your own broth is a healthy way to increase flavor without all that additional sodium.  A good broth is minimal consisting of sparing, nutrient-dense ingredients.

I took all my ingredients and threw them into a slow cooker.  Using the slow cooker means minimal work for me.  In the past, I have thrown whole onions, peel included, carrots, uncut, and full stalks of celery into a pot of boiling water and called it a broth, but this time I chopped my ingredients up semi-finely.  More chopping equals more surface area which makes the water commingle with all the vitamins easier and quicker.

What you need:
- 4 Carrots
- 4 Celery stalks
- 1 to 2 Onions
- 6 cloves of Garlic
- 3 Bay Leaves
- Black Pepper
- Olive Oil

What may be included if you so desire:
- Chicken carcass/bones
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Whatever you want (don't be confined to this simple recipe)!!!!!!!



1.  Chop up the carrots, celery, onion and garelick roughly - this does not need to be your finest chopping moment.

2.  Throw them into the slow cooker with a bit of olive oil.  Add some black pepper, 1/2 a tablespoon or so.  Add the bay leaves and if you like some sprigs of rosemary and some thyme.

3.  If your a meatatarian and you have some parts of the chicken that were never used and would have been thrown out anyway, be resourceful and efficient and chuck that carcass in!  Even bones add flavor and calcium!  If you are a veggie or a vegan, skip this step and don't be scared.

4.  Go about your day, maybe play some music, watch some movies that you have wanted to see for years and years but just kept putting it off, go to sleep maybe, and after 12 hours or so on low heat in the slow cooker your broth should be done.

5.  Using a fine mesh strainer, or pasta strainer, filter out all of the veggies, bones, and flesh.  Don't waste them, eat it up if you want or feed it to your neighbors dog ;) .

6.  If you plan to use the broth within the next three days, throw it in the fridge, if not freeze it up for a rainy day where you don't feel like leaving the house.

Yummmmmm Veggggggies!

Chopping em up - Bam

Frozen chicken with some bay leaves on top.   It looks like a dears head or something scary like that

Add yo water and let the slow cooker do the rest!  This creation made the whole house smell like chicken noodle soup - an aroma that made me nostalgic for warm and cozy moments on snowy days.

Now that you have this nourishing broth, use it when cooking rice, couscous, barley, etc.  Make a soup and use this instead of H20.  Add to some beans and reduce the liquid down.  Make a butter sauce with it for some pasta.  The possibilites are endless.  The choice is yours and yours alone!  Keep posted, more maverick meals to come soon.