Orange Peel

Every day many oranges are prepped and zested.
Zesting is the process where a thin strip of the outer peel is removed. It looks like thin strands of orange, smells wonderful, and adds amazing color.

Used for garnishing the Braised Ribs at work at Zion Lodge, they look sort of weird to just be placed in a bowl hoping people would eat them. We'd get questions like, "Is this a new kind of orange?"
or " What happened to these oranges?"
So, I started slicing them into rounds, and placing them on ice. Now, the employees like to eat them. Just made sense to me. Not everyone wants to commit to a whole orange, one they'd have to peel and everything. Now, they can take one round slice, or two, or just have at it.


At home I dry the peel in the gas oven. The pilot light does all the work. I googled "Vitamin C in orange peels".

Here's one websites take:

"Orange Peel is one of the greatest sources of vitamin C on earth and should not be left out of your diet as a natural and potent way to enhance your immune system and ward off invasive infection. It is an old and reliable digestive, but important new research has demonstrated promising antioxidant activity."

http://www.herbalextractsplus.com/orange-peel.cfm

That's good enough for me. As a natural source of vitamin C the whole orange is excellent.
Once it is dried the peel is somewhat leathery, and a good trail treat. It takes awhile to chew, but provides a satisfying change to Ramen and oatmeal.

I always wash fruit before preparing any dish.