Techniques - Peeling

     I really thought about dedicating an equipment section just to what kind of peeler you should get, but I realized that we have five different peelers and they all work equally well.  Really, you can buy a peeler from the dollar store and it'll work just as well as the one you get for $20 from Willams Sonoma.  Yeah, you might have to replace it after a few years (like 5), but you can buy an other $1 peeler and move on.  It's not going to make a huge difference.
     Peeling is one of those things that is only rarely necessary and most people consider it messy because, if you do it wrong, it is.  I could make a crack about how I'm well associated with potato peeling because I was in the Army, but truth be told, they didn't do that by the time I got there.  I have, however, peeled all kinds of different things both with peelers and paring knives.  I highly recommend peelers, if given a choice.
     That being said, peeling is only really necessary about 10% of the time.  Items we used to peel (potatoes, carrots, apples, etc) have been found to store a large amount of their nutrients in their peels.  It's worth mentioning that every single adult in my life told me that before there was scientific evidence to prove it.  Therefore, we really don't need to peel that much.  I peel sweet potatoes, if I'm making a sweet potato casserole, but not much more.  For that reason, the video at the end of this is of me peeling sweet potatoes.
     Peeling is fast and easy, and there's probably a lot of people who are skipping this entry because they rolled their eyes and thought it was dumb.  There's only one little trick I'm going to share with you before I let you go:  plastic wrap.
     Plastic wrap is what's going to keep you from making a horrible mess of your kitchen.  I remember when I started peeling, I was pretty young and almost the whole counter got covered with peels in the process.  Yes, this is one of those techniques you get to teach your kids to do while you're cutting up vegetables (my daughter cuts up vegetables too, but she's been working in the kitchen with me for 2 years).  It's the simplest thing in the world, really.
     So, here's how to peel something without it getting everywhere.
1. Cover your work area with saran wrap, completely.

2.  Press firmly on your vegetable with your peeler.  You shouldn't need to worry about smashing the vegetable because you only do this with hard veggies like potatoes and zucchini.

3.  Slowly, with long strokes, push the peeler down the length of the vegetable, rotating the vegetable as you need to reach more peel.  Do this slowly so you keep your peels on the saran wrap.

4.  Peel all the vegetables you need, keeping the peelings on the saran wrap. If you miss, just pick the pieces up and put them back on the wrap.

5.  Pick up the four corners of your saran wrap and roll it into a ball with the peels inside.

6.  Throw the saran-wrapped peels away.  You now have a clean counter and don't have to bring the trash can over to get a thousand pieces of peel off of it!

Did this save you time and mess?  What do you want to learn to do?  Tweet to @cookingcheap