GC Market Day: Early Summer Broth To Preserve The Season

GC Market Day is a Garden Collage feature where we spotlight new, intriguing recipes using ingredients sourced almost exclusively from the Farmers Market– right down to the butter and honey. This week, we spotlight the flavors of summer with a simple, nutritious Early Summer Broth– a perfect way to capture a taste of the season.

Full summer is nearly upon us. It is, as usual, hard to believe. And the heat of summer means that a few farmers market favorites are about to come out of peak season. So, in hopes of slowing time down and savoring every last morsel of spring and early summer, we are preserving the flavors in this broth.

Broth had its moment this past winter with a pop-up broth counter in New York City. It’s easy to make, but to make it extraordinary takes practice. No matter how precious a recipe might seem, all it takes is great veggies– some of which you might grow yourself.

The broth below is fairly quick-to-prepare since the vegetables of early summer are young and the flavors are a little more delicate. When making any kind of broth, think of the process as steeping, like a fine whole-leaf tea, rather than cooking, like a pot of chili. A rolling bowl can break up leaves, overcook vegetables, and radically change the flavors whose nuance we want to preserve and accentuate.

Use this broth as a base for chilled soups like gazpacho, or add yoghurt and cooked veggies for a light meal. It has a beautiful rose-gold color that is unique and surprising. Plus, you can also pour it into an ice tray and freeze for early fall when you’re missing those young flavors of spring.

Early Summer Broth

• handful of radishes, halved
• bunch of dandelion greens
• bundle of scallions
• 4-5 tricolor carrots (not a requirement, just more fun)
• bunch of parsley
• 2 cloves of garlic

Method

1. Clean everything, but no need to peel or scrub.
2. Separate Dandelion and parsley leaves and stems, cut scallions about 2 inches above the white bulb.
3. Add carrots, greens stems, scallion bulbs, radishes and garlic to a pot.
4. Fill the pot with 6 cups of water and simmer on medium for 3 hours.
5. Add a handful of parsley and dandelion leaves and simmer for 45 minutes more.
6. Strain through a wire mesh strainer or cheesecloth, salt to taste, and enjoy!