Don’t peel away the best part of your fresh fruits and vegetables
I’ve always been told that the skin adds fiber to my diet, so even red potatoes got part of the skin left on them in potato salad and with roasts. Leftover mashed potatoes. Skinning fruits and vegetables is among Shape magazine’s list of kitchen blunders that negatively impact the quality of our diets.
Why? Most of the antioxidants and polyphenols in produce are located very close to the surface of the skin — or in the skin itself.
According to the research, most fruit peels exhibited two to 27 times more antioxidant activity than the pulp of the fruit.
Many of us remove the skins from eggplant, bell peppers, peaches, apples and nectarines while preparing recipes, but we’re really just tossing away nutrients and fiber.
What to do? Gently scrub potatoes and carrots rather than removing their skin. more
[Keywords: recipes, food preparation ]