One of my favorite things to do on cool autumn weekends is to put on a big pot of soup. There’s something inherently calming about the aroma, warmth, and gentle, slow roll of the simmer. For me, it is a form of weekend therapy, and if the creation is healthy, like this big pot of spices and yum, it is a way to gently nurture mind, body, and soul.

Get your slow cooker out and preheat on a high setting. Place your star anise, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks in the bottom of a dry slow cooker and let the heat work its magic. Heating whole spices helps to bring the aromatic oils to the surface so they will permeate and flavor your broth more easily.

I am lucky enough to have a seven-quart All-Clad slow cooker with a browning function. I bought this lovely piece of machinery from Williams Sonoma, and let me tell you… it’s a freaking Cadillac. Worth every single penny I spent and more. If you don’t have a slow cooker with a browning function, toast the spices in a dry frying pan (no oil) over medium-high heat.

Once the spices have toasted just a bit (your house will begin to smell lovely), you can begin adding all of the vegetables that make this broth beautiful. The really great thing about this recipe is that you can chop and plop without much care about how the pieces look or even if they’re peeled! That’s right… you don’t have to peep your ginger, garlic or even your onions. In fact, I recommend that you do NOT peel your onions, because the peel from a yellow onion will make your broth turn a beautiful shade of amber rather than remaining clear.

Simply rough-chop all of the ingredients and throw them in the pot. Add water to the top of the pot, turn your slow cooker to high, and cook for 4 hours.

After the cooking time has stopped, turn off your slow cooker and allow the veg to cool in the broth for about 30 minutes. Then strain all of the solids from the broth until it is a clear, amber-colored beautiful batch of healthy goodness.

I make this broth several times a season and store it in quart containers in the freezer. It is the perfectly spiced base for vegetable miso soup (our go-to in this family to heal all ills) and my light and delicious chicken pho.

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Spiced Vegetable Broth

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time4 hours hrs

Total Time4 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Servings: 4 quarts

Equipment

• Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 6 whole Star Anise
• 1/2 tsp Whole Peppercorns
• 4 whole Cinnamon Sticks
• 2 bulbs Fennel coarsely sliced into chunks, including fronds
• 2 whole Onions coarsely sliced into chunks, peel on
• 2 heads Garlic coarsely sliced in half
• 4 ribs Celery coarsely sliced into chunks
• 4 whole Carrots coarsely sliced into chunks
• 1 5" piece Fresh Ginger sliced into medallions
• 1 tbsp Coarse Celtic Sea Salt
• 1 tbsp Miso Paste
• 1 tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
• 4 quarts Water or to cover

Instructions

• Preheat slow cooker with a browning function set to high.
• Place star anise, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks in the bottom of the preheated cooker and toast, stirring frequently, until the spices become fragrant.
• Coarsely chop fennel, onions, garlic, celery, carrots and ginger. There is no need to peel the onions or garlic. Onion skins will naturally make the broth a beautiful golden color.
• Add chopped fennel, onions, garlic, celery, carrots and ginger to the slow cooker with the toasted spices. Add a splash of water to the mixture and stir well. Saute the vegetables over high heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onions just begin to show some caramelization.
• Switch your cooker to high slow cook mode. Cover the vegetables and spices with at least 4 quarts of water, or more if your slow cooker will allow.
• Add Celtic sea salt, miso paste and Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Cover and cook for 4 hours.
• Let the vegetables cool in the broth for at least 30 minutes. When cool enough to handle, strain all of the solids from the broth using a kitchen spider or mesh skimmer.
• Use broth right away as a base for your favorite vegetable soup, or let cool completely and store in quart containers in the freezer for future use.

***** To make an amazing veg pho, bring the broth to a simmer, then add sliced mushrooms and scallions, baby bok choy cut into quarters, and rice noodles. Cook at a very slow simmer just until the bok choy is bright green and the rice noodles are tender. Do not cook at a hard boil, or the noodles will overcook.