10 Parts of Fruits and Veggies You Didn’t Know You Could Eat

Usually, you’re buying beets for the bulbous, sweet red root vegetable part. But fresh leafy beet greens are every bit as delicious. They also add their own health benefits: According to the USDA, beet greens have more protein and fiber than the beet alone.

You can use beet greens much as you would any other leafy green, or try sauteeing them. Warm olive oil and garlic in a skillet and add the chopped greens. Cook until wilted and tender. Top with roasted beet wedges, balsamic vinegar, and crumbled goat cheese for a beet-on-beet feast.

If you’ve ever made a recipe with leeks you’ve likely seen the preparation direction, “white and light green parts only.” But what’s wrong with the darker green parts? According to Ly, absolutely nothing. She thinks this part of the leek has been rejected for cosmetic reasons. “They are sometimes beat up and don’t look that appetizing. But all it takes is peeling back the outer bedraggled layer and cleaning thoroughly. Then you can use it basically just like the white part.”

Bagged supermarket carrots don’t usually come with the frilly green tops attached, but farmers’ market carrots often do. These greens are perfectly edible, though they don’t taste much like carrots. “I think of them as an earthy-tasting parsley,” says Ly. “My advice is to turn them into a garnish or accent.” She uses the abundant carrot tops from her garden to make a twist on chimichurri that she calls carrot top salsa.

To make a carrot top salsa, chop the greens finely and cover them in a mixture of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Add plenty of chopped garlic and red pepper flakes to taste. “You get a rich, savory condiment to drizzle on vegetables or bread,” says Ly.

The florets get all the love, but the broccoli stem is actually even more delicious. “You just need to peel away the tough outer layer of the stalk. The flesh underneath can be used just like broccoli,” says Ly. And the leaves are a hidden treasure if you stumble across them. “They are like collards, but with a milder flavor," says Ly. "They need a little bit of cooking, so I add them to soups, stews, and braises.” You can also make them into chips the way you would with kale: Film the leaves lightly with olive oil and arrange on a sheet pan, then cook in a hot oven or air fryer until crunchy.

To make roasted broccoli stems, slice the stalk into coins and toss with olive oil and grated Parmesan. Arrange on a baking sheet, and roast at 400 degrees F until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.

It’s true: You can even eat your banana peels. And you probably should: The phenolic compounds found in banana peels are rich in antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds according to a study published in the Journal of Functional Foods in January 2018.

Though some skilled chefs have turned banana peels into vegan barbecue, you’ll probably want to start by adding a little to your smoothies. Simply chop up half a peel from a very ripe banana and add it to the blender with your other favorite ingredients.

Ly is a staunch believer in not peeling your potatoes. “There’s so much fiber in the potato skins,” she says. But she concedes there will be times you want to peel, for example, when you want extra velvety mashed potatoes. In those situations, you’ll be left with the skins. Good news: you can still eat them.

To make roasted potato skins, toss the skins with olive oil and your choice of seasonings (smoked paprika is especially good). Spread out on a baking sheet and roast in a 400 degree F oven for 15 minutes.

If you’re familiar with the food traditions of the American South, you might already be familiar with pickled watermelon rind. But that’s far from the only use of this often discarded part of the fruit. “Watermelon rinds taste like a cross between melon and cucumber. I love to cook it. It turns it really silky,” Ly says.

Make a watermelon stir-fry by heating canola oil in a wok. Add garlic, ginger, and scallions and toss until fragrant. Add the watermelon rind and continue cooking until just tender. Serve over rice with soy sauce, sesame oil, and chile oil.

Lots of people love kale. But kale stem lovers? Those are few and far between. Most home cooks cut out the tough stems and toss or compost them. That’s a shame, because kale stems are absolutely perfect for pesto, according to Ly. You can add other herbs or leafy greens or make an all-kale-stem version. It’s a very flexible recipe.

To make kale stem pesto, chop the stems and add them to a food processor with a handful of pine nuts, a garlic clove or two, some grated Parmesan cheese, and a healthy pour of olive oil. Puree the mixture until a paste forms. (When you toss it with your pasta, use some of the pasta cooking liquid to loosen it up and get the consistency you want.)

You may be throwing away the most powerful probiotic in your refrigerator. In a study published in July 2019 in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, researchers found that apples contain about 100 million bacteria — most of them beneficial — and 90 percent of them are in the apple’s core. The core may be a little tougher than the rest of the apple, but it’s entirely edible.

You may have heard that apple seeds are poisonous. While they do contain a toxin called amygdalin, which can turn into hydrogen cyanide, you would have to consume 80 or more seeds at a time to poison yourself, past research has shown. But if you want to be extra cautious, feel free to remove the seeds and plant them.

Yellow onion skins lend wonderful color and flavor to homemade vegetable stock. Instead of throwing them away, stash them in a freezer bag with other stock-friendly vegetable trimmings — broccoli stem peelings, pea pods, asparagus tips, and mushroom stems.

When your bag is full, transfer the scraps to a pot, cover with water, and simmer for an hour before straining and storing in the refrigerator or freezer for future use in soups and stews.