Keep the Skin On

There are a few habits that are relatively consistent across our classes.:

  • When they’re cutting off a stem, students typically cut way further down the vegetable than is necessary (Chef Dan says, “Food waste is bad for karma!”);

  • many students spend too much time organizing and measuring, rather than actually cooking (no need to overthink it);

  • and everyone loves to grab the peelers if they’re on vegetable duty!

As a society, we’re programmed to peel, but it’s quite frequently unnecessary! Here’s a few reasons why you should reconsider peeling all those tasty and nutritious ingredients you’re about to put into your dish.

3 Reasons to Keep the Skin on Your Produce

The #1 Reason: Nutrients

To get right to the point, most of the nutritional content of vegetables tends to concentrate towards the skin.  While we hear a lot about pesticides and herbicides, the truth is that, once you clean your vegetables, the nutritional benefit that you’ll receive from the skin far outweighs any fears you should have related to your veggies.

(If you want to be extra careful and budget allows, purchasing organic vegetables should rid you of that fear. Otherwise, we recommend checking out the Environmental Working Group’s website to learn what produce is known to have the least and most pesticide contamination to understand where you may want to consider paying a little extra attention.)

The skin of produce contains antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C & E, and phytonutrients, all which fight against free radicals and have great health-promoting properties.  From there, each vegetable contains whatever nutritional benefits they typically have, but with a higher concentration towards the skin.

For example, the skin of potatoes includes more iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6, and vitamin C ounce-for-ounce than the rest of the potato.  So mash your potatoes and include the skin or consider simply roasting them and leaving on the skin so that your family is able to enjoy all of the nutritional benefits available.

Peels May Help You Feel Fuller for Longer

The peel sometimes contains as much as ⅓ of the fiber content in your fresh fruits and vegetables!  That fiber has been shown to keep you feeling full for a longer period of time. Plus, fiber is incredibly beneficial for your gut health, which is an extra bonus for those looking to increase their nutritional intake.

It Saves Time/Energy

We’ll keep this one short.  Very rarely do people consider prep to be the best step in cooking. Cut down on the time and energy needed to make your culinary magic happen and put down the peeler.

Produce you should peel (not including the below)

  • Tropical fruits: Pineapples, papayas, mangos, mellon, lychee

  • Avocados

  • Garlic

  • Any produce where you don’t like the texture, which might prevent you from cooking with it in the first place

Skins you can save/repurpose (& how)

  • Citrus fruits - Cook or grate the skin into a zest. They’re full of antioxidants!

  • Onion skins - Save and freeze to make a broth once you’ve accumulated enough. There’s tremendous nutrition in their skins and it brings out the most delicious light onion flavoring our soups and other broth-based dishes.

  • Bananas - Remove the leftover stringy material, then start rubbing the inside of the peel on your leather shoes or silver. With a quick buff of a paper towel or soft cloth, they’ll be as good as new!

  • Pumpkins & winter squashes - Cool and soften them for delicious flavor

There you have it!

Leaving the skin on your vegetables simplifies your cooking process and is more nutritious for those enjoying the meal. You can even save some of the skins for later to bring delicious flavor into even more dishes.  Simply enough, just remember that whenever possible… you should KEEP THOSE SKINS!

Jodie Leschuk