Bridget's Detox and Heal Garlic Broth + Soup

Gluten-free | Sugar-free | Dairy-free | No added fats or oil | Vegan 

Makes: 2 litres ( 1⁄2 gallon) or 6-8 portions 
Cuisine: Bridget's Healthy Kitchen
Course: Starter / Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Prep time: 35minutes
Cook time (broth): 5 hours
Cook time (soup): 5 minutes 
Keep (broth): 7 days in the fridge
Difficulty: Easy

Some mornings you wake up bloated, tired and feeling gross, especially after a big night out. We've all experienced it. 

This broth I've created is my go-to soup to detox and restore the body. It's packed full of healing ingredients that are good for our gut, great for helping with colds, the flu and even hangovers. It's light and fresh, and thanks to all the fabulous garlic, it is excellent for detoxing the body as well.

My garlic broth recipe is 100% gut-healthy - it's gluten-free, contains no dairy or sugar, has no added fats or oils. It's also vegan. 

It is flavoursome, clean, and utterly versatile. Once you've made the garlic broth base, you can add whatever vegetables you choose. You can also keep the broth in a jar and store it in the fridge until you're ready to use it. 

I have given you a few ideas of what I like to use in my recipe, but the choice is yours!  

Hints, Tips & Tricks

I use Bridget's Sticky Sauce in this recipe(optional), a healthy cooking sauce I use in many of my recipes. It's simple, healthy and packs a lot of flavour without adding unnecessary calories. If you need the recipe, you can get it here.

If you're making soup for the week ahead, I suggest stopping at step 7 in the recipe and continuing when you're ready to eat your soup. Only use enough broth as needed, as to not reheat the same broth over again. 

I use an air fryer for this recipe, but you can also use an oven if you don't have one. 

Recipe

Ingredients

Broth base

• 3 whole heads of garlic, cut in half widthways through the middle
• 3 onions, unpeeled and cut in half widthways through the middle
• 4 litres (1 gallon) cold filtered water
• 1 piece of kombu, 1⁄2 the size on an A4 piece of paper
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4 star anise
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 lemongrass stalk, white part bruised and lightly bashed with the back of a knife and then roughly chopped

You can use a selection of any of the following ingredients to finish the broth

• 2 tbsp finely minced garlic and or ginger (YES, add more garlic!)
• 2-4 tbsp Bridget's sticky sauce
• 2-4 tbsp low sodium tamari
• 2 large handfuls of finely sliced mushrooms (my second favourite!)
• 1 handful sliced snow peas
• 2 onions, sliced and fried in tamari for 5 minutes
• 1 bunch of bok choy, choy sum or gai larn, washed and roughly chopped
• 1 head broccoli, broken into small florets
• 300 g cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2 large handfuls of watercress, washed carefully
• 500 g (1 lb) zucchini, made into noodles
• 2 large handfuls of bean sprouts (my favourite!)
• 1 Small handful of herbs like coriander, mint, basil, chives, Vietnamese mint, Thai basil or parsley
• Lemon wedges to serve and squeeze into the broth before eating

Method

1. Preheat your air fryer or oven at 200C (390 F).
2. Add 2 1⁄2 halves of the garlic bulbs (reserving 1⁄2 a head for later in the recipe) into the air fryer along with the onion halves and cook the garlic for 12 minutes and the onions for 25 minutes until they are a deep dark brown.
3. If using the oven, place the garlic and onions on a baking paper-lined roasting tray and cook the garlic for 15-20 minutes and the onions for 30-35 minutes.
4. Place the cooked garlic and onions into a large pot along with the 1⁄2 head of raw garlic, cold water, kombu, cinnamon sticks, star anise, bay leaves, and lemongrass.
5. Bring the contents of the pot to a boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer and allow the broth to cook for 4-5 hours until the liquid is reduced by half.
6. Pour the contents of the pot into a colander or sieve sitting above another large pot. Next, use the back of a large spoon, squash the garlic and onions into the sieve. By doing this, you will extract as much goodness out of the vegetables as possible. Keep squeezing until all the liquid is drained into the other pot. Discard the garlic and onion mixture.
7. At this stage, you can continue to step 8, or you can leave the broth to cool and refrigerate for up to 7 days (see Hints, Tips & Tricks section)
8. To finish the broth, place the liquid back on medium to high heat and bring the pot back to a gentle simmer and taste for flavour. The broth should be very clean tasting.
9. Now it's time to get inventive and add a few more ingredients to the broth to make it taste really good. I always add finely chopped garlic and ginger and Bridget's sticky sauce and then taste for flavour.
10. Add more sticky if necessary, and then add mushrooms, snow peas, onions, Asian greens, broccoli or cabbage. Allow these ingredients to cook only for 1- 2 minutes, tasting the broth as you go to see how the flavour is developing.
11. If you plan on using zucchini noodles, bean sprouts or herbs, add these ingredients directly to the bowl you intend to serve from as these ingredients don't need any cooking. Pour the hot broth straight over the top, inhale deeply and eat.