Blessed love. Have you ever had vegetable broth? If so, you already know how refreshing it is on an early morning or chilly evening. Even if you prefer a thick, homemade soup with peas, greens, dumplings and ground provisions too, a broth with the right combination of spices, seasonings and vegetables can be just as tasty (but a lot lighter.)

While broth is more water-based with veggies, seasonings and (maybe) noodles in the mix while a soup is more on the heavier side. At least that’s how I understand it and always heard it explained while growing up in The Caribbean. Because a vegetable broth is light and not a bulky meal, the spices and their flavours combined with the greens and their texture are the focus.

Since spices are so medicinal and nutritious, making and sipping this broth every week or so is light on the tummy yet filling and nourishing and revilatizing for the skin. Today’s post shares my easy-to-make recipe for one of the two veggie broths I like to make. Set aside:

• 1 small pot
• stirring spoon

This broth is easy-to-make and the longest part of the process is washing the vegetables.

Prep steps:

Wash, slice, dice and chop and set aside all vegetables (soak noodles if you’re including them in your broth.)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of water
• 1 onion
• 2 pods of garlic (1 crushed, 1 whole)
• a sprinkle each of cayenne, turmeric & paprika
• a few basil leaves
• okra
• 2 stalks of Asparagus
• 2 (meal portions) of vermicelli or any noodles of your choice
• 2-3 handfuls of spinach
• a small handful of coriander
• 1 grated or sliced carrot
• salt & black pepper

(The other broth recipe has pak choi, beans and mushrooms with a different spice mix, and tastes just as nice.)

Put the vermicelli noodles to soak and soften in hot water. I prep the broth by ‘chunkaying (tempering) ‘ my spice blend in a little olive oil with onion and then garlic for a few minutes. After that, add the vegetables and a third of the fresh herbs. Stir for a minute. Add the water slowly then a couple sprinkles of salt. Let the vegetables simmer for a few minutes then turn off the stove, add the drained noodles and sprinkle in the remaining herbs. Stir and taste.

Decorate with fresh basil leaves, sprinkle with black pepper and enjoy.

Healthy, tasty and ideal on a chilly day. Here’s the remix. 🥄 When you have a lil vegetable broth leftover and want to add a fresh flavour to it, try sautee-ing mushrooms, spinach, paprika and a couple garlic pods and onion then adding to the re-heated broth.