Question about vegetable/fruit skins and nutrients/vitamins

[kittie_eats]

I'm just beginning to cook from scratch for my health and a lot of recipes call to peel and discard the skins from fruits and vegetables. Now I thought that was where most of the nutrients were, or is that just the fiber? Because if I'm cooking it anyways, isn't the fiber destroyed?

Specifically I'm trying to make roasted red bell pepper soup for the vitamin C but the skins become extremely tough and pretty much impossible to chew.

I'm very new to this and would appreciate any tips, thank you!

[NoraC]

Pepper skin is pretty much a dead loss by the time you have roasted the peppers and peeled them. In general though, most of trimmings and peels can be good stock fodder.

The only nutritional advice that I can firmly and consistently follow is to eat a large variety of well prepared foods in every color available.

[Snip 13]

Hi! I leave my potato skins on even for mash, leave all veggie skins on for soup, I cook my hubbard squash skins with some potato and onion then mash it up (makes a nice side dish and taste almost like spinach) if I make anything with bell peppers I roast them first to get some vitamins from the skins then remove the skins after. Most veggies will retain more nutrients just by cooking them skin on and removing them once done. You can also add a few carrot leaves to soup like you would parsley, very healthy and they taste good too. Just go gentle on the amount of carrot leaves they have a strong flavour. I also cook beet leaves like spinach and when I cook radishes I steam them whole with skins and leaves and serve with lemon butter.

[Fabiabi]

Yes the goodness is usually in the skins, Leave skins on the veg if you're eating for health and not just personal preference.

[Aunt Bea]

I think it can be a toss up. The skins do contain many nutrients but, for those items grown above ground they can also contain pesticides.

If you enjoy the skins eat em, if you don't peel em

[CWS4322]

Unless you grow your own <g>. I feed the peelings to my hens if I peel fruit/veggies.

[Snip 13]

Cooking destroys most of the Vitamin C in foods so I would rather eat raw foods for Vit C.
Parsley is high in Vit C so adding some chopped parsley at the last minute will preserve the vitamins. Lemon, orange, strawberries, papaya and Greens are also high in Vit C.
Try adding fresh lemon or orange juice to foods or in salad dressings or just a few slices of raw bell peppers etc. You can eat most young greens raw in salad.

If you buy veg with healthy looking skin I would say give them a good wash and leave the skin on. Mashed potato is delicious with skin and adding veg with skin to soups are a good way of getting the fiber you need. You can also puree the soup to avoid tough skins.
If you want you could also peel them after cooking since more nutrients are retained in the veg and fruit if cooked skin on.
Rocket leaves are a super food! Add them to salad, sandwiches and even soups or stews for a peppery bite.

[Fabiabi]

Originally Posted by Aunt Bea

I think it can be a toss up. The skins do contain many nutrients but, for those items grown above ground they can also contain pesticides.

If you enjoy the skins eat em, if you don't peel em

Good point.
Is just washing them going to remove pesticides or does it generally get into the food?