While working on the vegan section of my cooking blog, I needed a lot of vegetarian broth so I purchased some and made some. Here’s how to make your own vegetarian broth.

Save your raw vegetable peels and scraps in a refrigerated container for several days, up to 1 week. Carrot and potato peels, the tough ends of celery, mushy tomatoes, bok choy scraps, outer tough layers of onions (but not the papery skins), etc. As long as they are clean and not moldy, anything works.

• 8-12 cups of water
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper or several dried peppers
• 1-5 cups of vegetable scraps

Bring everything to boil in a large stock pot. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5-10 minutes. Cover pot and remove from heat. When the broth has cooled, pour into a storage container through a colander to catch the vegetable scraps. Add the cooked scraps to your compost pile or recycle into another batch of broth.

Substituting vegetarian broth for water is a great way to add flavor and vitamins to side dishes like grits, rice, and pasta.