He makes bone broth so you don’t have to

Bone broth isn’t just broth, although many have questioned this since the craze for it as a nutrient-rich drink swept the country. Made with more bones than regular broth and simmered for much longer, it’s similar to traditional broth, but typically more intense. Many of us don’t have the time or penchant to cook up a pot, and some commercial brands are too salty. Last year, Newton resident John Hopkins launched Five Way Foods, a small-batch bone-broth business, and cooks chicken and fish bone broths and a vegetable broth ($7 to $8 for 16 ounces) at CommonWealth Kitchen, the shared space in Dorchester. Chicken bones come from local farms raising poultry on GMO-free feed, and wild-caught fish bones are from Red’s Best at Boston’s Fish Pier. Hopkins began making low-sodium, gluten-, sugar-, and dairy-free broths years ago when his young son developed food allergies. “I became obsessed with perfecting the process and started experimenting with simmering times and adding the right balance of vegetables and herbs,” says Hopkins, 51, who worked in sales and marketing for a tech company. The bone broths are clean with mild flavors, making them easy to use in a recipe; the vegetable broth has ginger and is subtly sweet from parsnips. They are tasty enough to drink straight from the glass bottle. Use the broths five ways (which is Hopkins’s hope and the reason for the name of the company): as a hot or cold soothing beverage, in a soup or stew, in a sauce, in a dish like risotto, or in a stir-fry. Here’s a sixth way: add to a smoothie for a nourishing pick-me-up. Available at Brookline Grown, 14 Pleasant St., Brookline; City Feed and Supply, 672 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, 617- 524-1700; Debra’s Natural Gourmet, 98 Commonwealth Ave., Concord, 978-371-7573, and Appleton Farms’ Dairy & Farm Store, 219 Country Road, Ipswich, 978-356-3825; or go to www.fivewayfoods.com. ANN TRIEGER KURLAND