Did you know that in most vegetables, the nutrition is in the peels. Peeling is such a common instruction in American recipes – we are taught to peel our carrots, potatoes, apples, cucumbers, beets, zucchini, eggplant making it a laborious and time-consuming affair, not to mention causing endless vegetable peel food waste. Maybe it stems from an old societal message for us to get rid of the dirt in our homes, and to distance ourselves from nature. The apple or potato peeler, known also as the vegetable peeler, was thought to have been invented in the 19th Century.
But what about if we think another way - what if we just threw away our vegetable peelers and didn’t peel our produce at all. What if we also buy organic and local, so we can help eliminate some of those fears about chemicals and waxes placed on from industrial farming? Besides, pesticides permeate the entire fruit or vegetable, so peeling doesn’t help at all. But remember to wash you produce before eating. (And if you chose to peel your produce, use the peels in making vegetable stock, along with bits from other vegetables. Mushroom stems, corn cobs, potato peels, etc. can all be used in stock if you strain it after cooking.)
Prepare zucchini with the peel intact, since the peel is the most nutrient-dense portion of the vegetable.
Apple peels are naturally rich in nutrients and fiber and contain 2−6 times more nutrients and insoluble fiber than the flesh of apples.
The highest concentration of phytonutrients is found in a carrot's skin or immediately underneath.
But what about if we think another way - what if we just threw away our vegetable peelers and didn’t peel our produce at all. What if we also buy organic and local, so we can help eliminate some of those fears about chemicals and waxes placed on from industrial farming? Besides, pesticides permeate the entire fruit or vegetable, so peeling doesn’t help at all. But remember to wash you produce before eating. (And if you chose to peel your produce, use the peels in making vegetable stock, along with bits from other vegetables. Mushroom stems, corn cobs, potato peels, etc. can all be used in stock if you strain it after cooking.)
Prepare zucchini with the peel intact, since the peel is the most nutrient-dense portion of the vegetable.
Apple peels are naturally rich in nutrients and fiber and contain 2−6 times more nutrients and insoluble fiber than the flesh of apples.
The highest concentration of phytonutrients is found in a carrot's skin or immediately underneath.