This little extra taste will transform an everyday dish into a real treat while saving you time.
Pasta with a tomato sauce that leaves something to be desired or a rice dish that’s a little bland? No need to take out the salt: a dish that is too salty will not necessarily be tastier, quite the contrary. A somewhat sad cauliflower, broccoli or zucchini gratin? Vegetables can be a little bland but we don’t necessarily have time to go to the market to get the latest produce. However, it’s not just fresh herbs or spices that enhance the flavor of a dish. This flavor enhancer will transform your daily meal into a real treat. It costs almost nothing (less than 5 euros) and will save you time and taste!
It is best known for making an easy chicken stock, to enhance a tomato sauce or bolognese, but it can also be used in many other dishes. Starting with your rice, simply by plunging it into boiling water while your rice is cooking. This little ally well known to our elders is obviously stock cubes or powder! Be careful, however, not to buy just any broth cubes or powder at the supermarket! According to the consumer protection NGO Foodwatch, this processed product may have a composition that leaves something to be desired. Indeed, certain brands contain potentially carcinogenic aromatic hydrocarbons from mineral oil. But then, which ones to choose?
We will choose a broth in cubes or powder with the least additives, hidden salt and sugar, and of course, without palm oil. Consider getting them from an organic store, preferably. The magazine 60 Millions de consommateurs recommends, among the products best rated by the magazine, the Priméal salt-free organic vegetable broth, the Jardin bio salt-free vegetable cube broth and the Bio Village poultry flavor broth – Repère brand.
The ideal is of course to make a homemade broth which will have the advantage of being less salty and healthier than an industrial broth. You will simmer, in a pot with a base of olive oil, a chicken carcass (you can replace the meat with fish, this is just a suggestion), a bouquet garni, onions and vegetables of your choice (celery, turnip or leek) cut into cubes. After filtering your broth after about thirty minutes, let it cool. You will then pour it into an ice cube tray and place it in your freezer, to grab every time you need it for one of your daily dishes. A word to the wise!