one of the sad things about becoming vegan is noticing a lack of depth and umami flavor to things you're used to. ex. my favorite dish growing up, aside from barbequed ribs, was the green beans my grandmother would make: southern-style, boiled for a couple of hours with bacon or just bacon grease (she'd freeze it every time she made bacon to use for the beans later).
i riffed on a recipe for green beans from the book cookin' southern vegetarian style to get this basic and wildly delicious vegan broth that's good for all legumes and vegetables, as far as i've been able to tell. of course i've never measured amounts (i tend to put tons of everything in), so add these to boiling water to taste:
miso paste (dark red preferably)
minced or smashed garlic
mustard (powder or seeds)
dark sesame oil
nutritional yeast
from that, you can add other herbs or spices if you want. today, i tried it minus the nutritional yeast and with cracked rosemary, tarragon, and onion. it was still delicious.
