To peel or not to peel? That is the question?

[Lou]

When you cook mashed potatoes, do you peel?
How about adding carrots to your recipe?

I typically don't peel anything. I have a "special veggie brush" and I use it scrub my veggies. and since corona I have also been soaking them in Veggie Wash.

I have hard that there are a lot of nutrients on the out side part of the veggies. I've also hear that there are a lot of pesticides and herbicides there - even on organic veggies.

We have a lot of good cooks here on the VF. What is the general consensus?

 

[silva]

I don't ever leave the peels on mashed potatoes! Every other way, yes, but not mashed, and I don't "smash" potatoes
I scrub everything else with a brush. I buy organic carrots and beets, because I'm lucky to get them here at the same prices.

I just had an orange, which I always cut in segments, never peel

 

[Veganite]

I sometimes leave the peel. It depends on what the veggie is and whether I buy organic or not. There's a lot of information out there on organic produce, both pros and cons. Personally, I think at the end of the day you are better off with organic veggies than the alternative, if you can afford that. I tend to buy a mix of organic and non-organic, really depending on price. One day I'll go in the grocery store and organic broccoli is cheaper than the non-organic.

I also thoroughly clean my veggies. I did that long before Covid. Generally, I like the peel on my organic potatoes, but a lot of times with mashed I prefer a creamer texture, which I find you cannot attain with the peel included. That does depend on the type of potato though. I'll leave the skin on new potatoes as they're so thin anyways. If you like to steam your veggies, it's usually best to peel them as the skin often toughens up when steamed.

Over all at the end of the day, there are a lot of nutrients in the skins. I always thought my mom was making that up. lol. Another benefit is the additional fiber...not that vegans usually have to worry about fiber. My general rule of thumb is usually to peel the non-organic skins off and leave the organic skins on.


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[Emma JC]

I do not peel anything, most of the time. If I had "company" and was serving mashed potatoes I might consider it but generally I scrub and go.

It always interests me when I watch some youtubers cook that they even leave the peel on ginger.

hmmm I do peel bananas

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Danielle]

I peeled sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, but I don't usually peel.

 

[Lou]

It always interests me when I watch some youtubers cook that they even leave the peel on ginger.

hmmm I do peel bananas

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

Oh, I didn't know you were supposed to peel ginger.
and I read somewhere that we should eat banana peels. I can't remember why or how.

 

[KLS52]

I would never make mashed potatoes with the skins. For things like carrots, or zucchini it depends on what condition the skins are in. Mostly I don’t peel those.
Eggplant always get peeled.
I think beets get peeled after I boil them. The skin slides off if I remember correctly.

 

[Lou]

I would never make mashed potatoes with the skins. For things like carrots, or zucchini it depends on what condition the skins are in. Mostly I don’t peel those.
Eggplant always get peeled.
I think beets get peeled after I boil them. The skin slides off if I remember correctly.

Oh, yeah. Most of the time I peel eggplants.

 

[silva]

I also peel the big eggplants, the Japanese long skinny ones I don't.
I'll peel zucchini if they're large too, as it's often bitter
I only peel ginger if it looks like it needs peeling. I usually get it quite fresh at the Asian grocery. My Aldi has bags of ginger now, that are small and gnarly, look more like the shape of most fresh tumeric I see!

Oh, I didn't know you were supposed to peel ginger.
and I read somewhere that we should eat banana peels. I can't remember why or how.

There is a thing about eating banana peels! I don't care as they do not agree with me anymore. I can't even stand the taste.