Immunity Broth

Immunity Broth ~ kitchen medicine ~ herb infused broth

I have found the best way to get herbs into my family is through the foods that we regularly eat.  These are things I would be making anyway, and when I add immune supporting herbs, it’s a win win, and I didn’t even add to my to do list!

How do I do this you ask?   Astrologus root simmered in morning oatmeal, greens in smoothies, thieves vinegar in my spaghetti sauce!

But, one of my very favorites is adding immune boosting herbs to my bone broth.  

I use bone broth as the liquid when cooking rice or quinoa or couscous.  It is the broth I add when making soups and sauces and I love to sip it, with a little miso added, for a late morning snack :)

Immunity broth is a lovely and easy way to weave herbs into your everyday.

Although I used my slowcooker for years to make my bone broth, I now love using my instant pot.  I usually do two 90min sessions, although I have also just done one when I’m in a hurry and need it now.  For me, making broth is easy and a wonderful way to make use of the parts of our chicken we don’t eat! 

There are lots of sources that will explain how to make bone broth, so I won’t go into that here.  What I want to do is tell you how I take this healing food, and add immune boosting power to it

If you aren’t into making your own bone broth, there are quite a few brands on the market now that would work great.  Then add some of our herbal friends and simmer for at least 30 min.

Here are the 5 different types of herbs that I try to add to my bone broth:

Medicinal mushrooms-

 are immune modulating, detoxifying, antioxidant, increases cognition, enhances digestion.  Ex: mitaki, Shiitake, Rishi, chicken of the wood, oyster, lion's mane, turkey tail

   

Adaptogens-

Help your body adapt to stress, have a harmonizing effect on the endocrine system, the nervous system, and the immune system, bringing them back to balance.  Ex: Astragalus, codonopsis

Seaweeds- rich in minerals, but best in small quantities.  EX: bladderwrack, combu, wakame, dulse

Nutritive herbs- rich in vitamins and minerals.  EX: oatstraw, nettles, alfalfa, rose hips, lambs quarters, plantain, chickweed, parsley, cilantro, dandelion leaf/root, burdock root

Culinary herbs- rich in volatile oils, antimicrobial and digestive.  EX: Mediterranean herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage. Also calendula, ginger, garlic

So,  basically I add the bones from 1-2 chickens, about ¼ cup apple cider vinegar or white wine, 2 carrots, 2 celery, 1 onion, 5-6 cloves garlic and then:

*this is just to give you a visual, its not set in stone

2 parts mushroom

2 parts adaptogens

2 parts nutratives

1 parts culinary herbs

¼ parts seaweeds

 

(For one pot of broth, my herbs would total just over a cup in volume, if you're using dried herbs, the volume will be less. And I usually get over 32oz of strained, finished broth.)

Then cover with water and continue with bone broth recipe of choice.

*you could also do this with a veggie broth if that's more your thing :)

*This is more of a guideline/floorplan/conversation starter  than a formal recipe.