Healing Vegetable Broth For Winter Colds

By Mary Boyle

When the frigid Wisconsin cold keeps us indoors we, unfortunately, share more than space.  If you're fighting off a cold or flu, this Healing Vegetable Broth, courtesy of Medical Medium, is perfect to sip from your favorite mug, but also makes plenty of extra for your freezer to use in any recipe that calls for vegetable broth (or for when the next person in your household comes down with the sniffles!).

In a large stockpot add:

• 4 carrots, chopped, or 1 sweet potato, cubed
• 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup of shiitake mushrooms, fresh or dried (optional)
• 2 tomatoes, chopped (optional)
• 1 bulb of garlic (about 6-8 cloves), minced
• 1 inch of fresh ginger root (peel if you want, or use 1/2 tsp. dried)
• 1 inch of fresh turmeric root (peel if you want, or use 1/2 tsp. dried)
• 8 cups of water
• Optional: Chili peppers or red pepper flakes

Directions:
Place all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a gentle boil. Turn heat down to low and allow to simmer for about an hour, covered. Strain and sip for a mineral rich, healing and restorative broth, or leave the veggies in to enjoy as a light healing soup.  Broth will keep for 5-7 days in the refrigerator, or freeze for later use.

Personally, I add a bit more celery and carrots and more water to fill my big stock pot so I have plenty of broth to fill my freezer.  Feel free to fill a mug to sip from when it's done; otherwise, allow the broth to cool and pour through a sieve into freezer-safe containers (be sure to leave about 1 inch of space at the top, as it will expand when frozen).  I compost all of the veggies, as they sort of become washed of flavor in the simmering (the broth is actually more effective without the veggies in it, but I know it can feel wasteful, so you do you;) .  I ended up with nearly 6 quarts of broth.

For those of you looking to get healthier in the New Year, I cannot recommend Medical Medium highly enough.  By implementing Anthony William's recommendations, I have personally experienced incredible results.  The books are great; however, all of the information is available on the website, including this recipe and many others.

​Here's to your health!