Photo by r.reveche

Darrin Carlson helps smart, busy men learn how to cook real food at Lean, Mean, Virile Machine. When he’s not doing analytical chemistry he’s trying hard not to fall off his surfboard. You can follow him on Twitter @Darrin_Carlson.

You may not be able to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen every day, but that doesn’t mean you should have to fall back on microwaveable mac and cheese either.

Although it’s important to build healthy habits by learning to prepare your food from scratch, most of us still have to devote a lot of time to work, school, friends, family, and other obligations.

This is why these five unconventional kitchen hacks are bound to come in handy.

5 Unconventional Tips To Save Time In The Kitchen

by Darrin Carlson

1. Peel potatoes without a peeler

Peeling potatoes can be a pain. Here’s a way to simplify the process.

Instead of peeling the potatoes before cooking them, peeling them after. The process of cooking the potatoes causes their skins to loosen (almost like a honey badger), allowing you to remove it freely.

Get a pot of water boiling and add the potatoes. Boil for about 45 minutes and pour out into a colander in the sink. Turn on the cold water above the potatoes. Hold one potato under the water stream, twist and pull to remove the skin. Holding potatoes under cold water cools down the exterior enough that you don’t burn yourself, while the inside remains hot.

2. Peel garlic without a knife

Traditionally, you needed to peel garlic cloves by whacking them with the side of a knife to loosen the skins and then peeling off by hand. But if you have to peel quite a bit, you can save yourself a lot of time by ditching the knife altogether.

Start out by separating the cloves by pushing down on the bulb with the heel of your hand. Then, take the cloves and toss them into a large mixing bowl (or a covered saucepan). Then, cover it tightly and shake it as if your life depended on it for a few seconds. The skins should peel off during this process.

3. Peel a hard-boiled egg fast

If you’ve only got a couple of hard-boiled eggs to peel, the best way is to use the “blowout” method. Pinch off both ends of the egg and bring one up to your mouth while holding your hand on the other side. Now, blow hard into the egg and it should slip out through the other end and into your hand!

If you’ve got a lot of eggs to peel (or you’re afraid of scaring your dinner guests off), you can also use a method similar to the one above for peeling garlic. After removing the eggs from boiling water and cooling, put them into a large mixing bowl or saucepan and cover. Shake for a minute and the shells should come right off.

4. Peel a banana like a monkey

Sick of mangling your banana every time you try to peel one? Tired of making the end all mushy when you try to peel the stem back? Take a cue from the way monkeys eat them.

Instead of peeling from the stem, go after it from the opposite side. Pinch this end between your fingers and it should split. You can then peel the sides down without having to squish the fruit.

5. Chill a bottle of wine quickly

Now that you’ve put in all the hard work learning how to peel potatoes, garlic, eggs, and bananas like a boss, you’ve earned a drink. But what if that pinot grigio is still at room temperature?

No problem. Fill up a sink (or bucket) with cold water. Add a few dozen cubes of ice and a handful of salt. Put the bottle in and stir it around. In about 15 minutes, you should have a perfectly chilled bottle of wine!

Water is a better conductor of heat than air, and adding salt lowers the freezing point, allowing you to quickly chill wine (or anything else, for that matter).

What are your favorite unconventional ways to save time in the kitchen?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week McDonald’s comes up with a game changer, Dr. Oz proves once again that he’s a scumbag, and science gives us a few more reasons to eat fish.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links on Twitter (@summertomato), Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• OMG: McDonald’s Does the Right Thing <<I don’t often get to say nice things about McDonald’s, but I’m glad they gave me a reason to today by ending the use of gestation crates for pigs. (New York Times)
• You Can Gain Weight Eating Fruits and Vegetables <<I’m of the opinion that what you eat is more important than how much you eat, but let’s not forget that how much you eat is still important. (Dr. Weil)
• A Tale of Two Oz’s <<Thanks Yoni for calling BS of the week on the two-faced quack named Dr. Oz. I wonder how this guy sleeps at night. (Weighty Matters)
• How 1-Minute Intervals Can Improve Your Health <<Don’t like to workout a lot or can’t find the time? This is the solution for you. (New York Times)
• Overeating May Double Risk of Memory Loss <<Too many calories is bad for your health in many ways, including your memory as well, according to a new study. (ScienceDaily)
• A Mediterranean diet may promote brain health: study <<And for those calories you are eating, make sure there’s some fish and good veggies in there. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Egg and the Pressure Cooker <<I had no idea I could cook one of my favorite foods in my beloved pressure cooker. This is high on my to-do list this weekend. (Ruhlman)
• Dietary changes may slow retinitis pigmentosa: study <<Another reason to eat fish: “Someone adopting this dietary recommendation by age 35 could have 18 years of additional vision.” That’s impressive. (Los Angeles Times)
• Miso-Roasted Fish on Cedar Plank <<Great write up on my friend and the chef who changed my life with a meal, Arnold Wong. He also shares this delicious sounding recipe. (SF Gate)

What inspired you this week?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week I found a surprisingly in depth and thoughtful piece on genetically modified foods, an even more impressive food commitment by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and a few good signs that the politics of food labels are headed in the right direction—truth.

Also, for you geeks my thesis work is finally published. Here’s the deets.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links at Twitter (@summertomato) and the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• With no labeling, few realize they are eating genetically modified foods <<Excellent analysis of the politics of GMO. Of course labeling is a good idea. (Los Angeles Times)
• Mark Zuckerberg’s new challenge: Eating only what he kills (and yes, we do mean literally…) <<I’m really impressed with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg‘s commitment to own his food choices this year. As someone who has killed many animals (lab research), I think the experience is invaluable for appreciating our modern food chain. (CNN)
• Study Questions Treatment Used in Heart Disease <<Turns out drugs that raise HDL cholesterol aren’t as valuable as everyone hoped. But HDL is still an excellent predictor of heart disease. Seems like you’ll have to raise it the old fashioned way, with diet and exercise. (New York Times)
• Red Meat and Colon Cancer: Beyond the Headlines <<Insightful analysis of the latest news about red meat and colon cancer. Read before you eat. (Nutrition Over Easy)
• Groups Sue FDA Over Use of Certain Antibiotics in Animal Feed <<This is awesome, and I hope it forces some action from our government to fight the dangerous antibiotic resistant bacteria that are being bred in industrial farms. (Wall Street Journal)
• Is That “Organic” Egg A Good Egg? <<I always struggle to convey the degrees of “healthy” in different eggs. Now there’s a handy scorecard to help out. (Consumerist)
• POM Wonderful Health Claims for Juice Lack Scientific Support, U.S. Says <<And this is why I always take immediate action whenever a POM ad happens to slip onto this site pretending to be healthy. I’m not cool with that. (Bloomberg)
• Loading up on calcium won’t eliminate osteoporosis risk, study says <<It also raises risk of heart disease and prostate cancer. Please don’t go nuts with the supplements. (Los Angeles Times)
• Quinoa with Currants, Dill, and Zucchini Recipe <<I only recently discovered how well dill and grains go together. Very much looking forward to trying this recipe. (101 Cookbooks)
• Food Is Political Says Outspoken Chef Alice Waters <<Alice Waters sometimes biffs it for the food movement, but this time she nails it. Definitely worth a watch. (Wall Street Journal)

http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/VideoPlayerMain.swf

What inspired you this week?

Purple Spring Onions

I’m not sure I’ve done enough yet this year to illustrate what a truly special season spring can be. In the springtime, everything is new.

Breathtaking Tulips

We get the first greens and fresh colors since the final harvest in autumn, but in the spring everything is sweeter and more delicate.

Bloomsdale Spinach

We don’t just have garlic, we have the sweeter and more subtle green garlic. Carrots, while large and husky in the winter are small and tender in the spring. These baby carrots taste nothing like the fake, flavorless “baby carrots” that come in big bags at the supermarket. These carrots are special.

Real Baby Carrots

Swiss and rainbow chard are better right now then they are at any other time of year. They’re so beautiful it’s hard to not bring extra home to put into a vase.

Rainbow Chard

Artichokes and asparagus are also peaking right now. I was so overwhelmed by the sweet, earthy smell of artichokes when I walked up to the farm stand that I forgot to actually take a photo of the beautiful vegetables (there are plenty from previous weeks if you want a peek).

Though most people don’t think about eggs as a seasonal product, they are. Chickens don’t lay as many eggs when it’s cold. Plus, pastured grass is lush and filled with plump, tasty bugs once spring arrives. We got some pullet eggs this morning from Eatwell Farm. We had asked for the extra-large eggs, but apparently they sold out before the market even opened this morning. They’re that good.

Pasture Raised Eggs

For farmers market noobies, one of the most impressive things you can introduce them to is Meyer lemons. Lemons are sour and their peels are bitter, right? Not Meyers. While they aren’t exactly sweet, their acid is not harsh. And their peels are so thin and tender you can eat them raw. Meyer lemons are divine.

Perfect Meyer Lemons

But one of the best aspects of spring is the hints of summer that sneak in from week to week. Now we have strawberries, and they’re actually getting good.

Endless Strawberries

We also have some early tomatoes and ripe, creamy avocados, two of my absolute favorite summer ingredients.

Haas Avocados

As a last throwback to winter I plan to make a soup with one of these celery roots later this week.

Celery Root

Today’s purchases:

• Rainbow chard (Iacopi Farm)
• Red Russian kale (Eatwell Farm)
• Oregano (Eatwell Farm)
• Pullet eggs (Eatwell Farm)
• Leeks (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Spring onions (Everything Under The Sun)
• Meyer Lemons (Hamada Farms)
• Cara cara oranges (Hamada Farms)
• Tomatoes (Bruin Farms)
• Cioggia beets (Star Route Farms)

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Tough decisions were made this week to narrow it down to 10 stories. Love the calorie infographic, also the commentary by Dr. Ludwig on industrial food and the “small” 32 oz. soda at a SF movie theater.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg, Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Where Do Americans Get Their Calories? (Infographic) <<This is REALLY cool. Notice grain consumption increased nearly 50% (just like the AHA recommends), same with added fat (aka processed vegetable oils) and sugars. Veggie intake hasn’t changed, nor has dairy, and barely “meat, egg and nuts”. Fruit has gone up. Sounds like we’re obeying the food pyramid, yet eating 25% more calories and gaining weight and disease faster than ever. Lovely. (CivilEats)
• Food technology has been bad for human health since long before the invention of high-fructose corn syrup <<The wonderful Dr. Ludwig tells a more complete story about the nature of obesity. It’s not just the fructose. (Los Angeles Times)
• Food is cheap at market, but costs a lot elsewhere <<Food prices are going up, but are you confused why experts say calories are “cheap”? Learn the gory details from Marion Nestle. (SFGate)
• When did a “small” soft drink become 32 ounces? <<This saddening fact qualifies for BS of the week. Like seriously, this is disgusting. (SFGate)
• Sweet! Candy eaters surprisingly slimmer <<Interestingly, this study relied on a 24hr recall questionnaire, meaning that it didn’t actually test candy eating, but the awareness of candy eating. Mindful eating may be the key factor. (MSNBC)
• Vitamin D Can Decrease — Or Increase — Breast Cancer Development and Insulin Resistance, Study Finds <<Just in case you needed more convincing, relying on supplements is scary (especially if you over do it). (ScienceDaily)
• Food Day Campaign is Launched! <<Think real food is important? Me too! We now have a day to celebrate it! (CSPI)
• Routine Periodic Fasting Is Good for Your Health, and Your Heart, Study Suggests <<Fasting data is a lot more convincing than the “eat every 2-3 hrs” data. Just saying. (ScienceDaily)
• Substance in Tangerines Fights Obesity and Protects Against Heart Disease <<It would be nice if stuff like this ever panned out. We’ll see. (ScienceDaily)
• Not Your Mama’s Deviled Eggs <<I completely love deviled eggs, and these sound absolutely divine. Cheers to springtime 🙂 (The Novice Chef)

What inspired you this week?

Thanks to those of you who participated in episode #4 about healthy vegetarian & vegan diets. I learned a lot while researching this post, and there’s valuable info on omega-3 fatty acids, essential minerals and other nutrition information that’s important for omnivores as well.

All show notes, including my annotated Kindle notes of Amazon’s most popular vegetarian nutrition book (I’m not a fan) are below. Everyone should at least skim through them, there’s a lot of great information/clarification in there.

Episode #5, Dairy: Friend or Foe? is airing on Monday, April 11 at 6:30pm PST. Does milk help or hurt your chances or getting osteoporosis? Does calcium cause prostate cancer? What’s the role of milk in acne? What about raw milk, is it really the holy grail? Join us on Monday to learn the answers.

______________________________________________________

March 29, 2011 | Episode #4 of Summer Tomato Live. The topic is healthy vegetarian and vegan diets (with lots of interesting nutrition information for omnivores too).

Live participation is only available to subscribers of the newsletter Tomato Slice. You can sign up at any time, even during the show, and the password for participation will be emailed to you immediately.

Click here to sign up and get the password

Read this for more information on the show and newsletter

To watch live and join the discussion click the red “Join event” button, login with Twitter or your Vokle account, and enter the password when prompted.

I encourage you to call in with video questions, particularly if your question is nuanced and may involve a back and forth discussion. Please use headphones to call in however, or the feedback from the show is unbearable.

The show will be recorded and released to the public next week. Show notes are below.

Show notes:

Follow Darya on Kindle

Darya’s Kindle notes on Becoming Vegetarian by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis

Health:

• Healthy Vegetable Sources of Protein and Iron
• Eco-Atkins Diet May Be Healthier Alternative for Weight Loss
• Fish Eaters and Vegetarians Have Less Cancer
• Intact Grains vs. Whole Grains
• Quinoa: Did You Know?
• Fishing For Answers: How To Choose Fish and Seafood
• Latest Study on Vitamin K and Coronary Heart Disease (Whole Health Source)
• The Unconvincing Evidence that Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease (Raw Food SOS)
• Which Non-Dairy Milk is Best? (Nutrition Diva)
• A caveman and a vegan walk into a bar…
• Summer Tomato Book Review: The China Study

Tools:

• How (And Why) To Cook And Freeze Large Batches Of Lentils
• How To Cook Dried Beans Using A Pressure Cooker
• Are You Bean Careful?
• How To Cook Perfect Rice Without A Rice Cooker

I hope to see you there!

Thanks to all of you who participated in the latest episode of Summer Tomato Live, your questions were great and I had a blast.

The recording of the show is above, and you’ll notice quickly that I had to re-record the audio since I had some trouble during the recording. Sorry about that, I’ll get this technical stuff right eventually.

The next live show is scheduled for Wednesday, March 16, at 6:30pm PST, and the topic is Habit forming and habit breaking. The following episode will be about healthy vegetarian and vegan diets, which I’ll try to make interesting for omnivores as well.

The episode will also be available soon on iTunes.

Today’s show notes:

Sponsors:

• Foodzie
• Zürsun Heirloom Beans

My go-to recipes:

• Quick Fix: Super Easy Kale With Pecans Recipe
• Quick Fix: Collards, Carrots and French Green Lentils
• How To Make Eggs Taste As Good As Bacon
• Pea Greens With Carrots And Scrambled Eggs
• 10 Ways To Make Your Salad More Satisfying
• 8 Reasons Breakfast Makes Your Life Better
• Better Than Butternut: Roasted Delicata Squash
• Roasted Curried Cauliflower To Die For

My tricks for cooking without pasta:

• Better Than Pasta Substitutes: Summer Squash Noodle Recipe and Video
• Healthy Pasta Substitute: Chickpeas (with recipe)

Time saving tricks:

• How (And Why) To Cook And Freeze Large Batches Of Lentils
• How to cook dried beans using a pressure cooker
• How to cook and freeze single servings of brown rice

Exercise tips & alternatives:

• My weekly workout
• How To Start Working Out When You Don’t Like To Exercise
• Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis – It’s NEAT!

How to:

• How to switch from coffee to tea
• Healthy Vegetable Sources of Protein and Iron

Recommended healthstyle gear:

• Fagor Splendid 6-Quart Pressure Cooker
• OXO Good Grips 10-Piece POP Container Set

Let me know if there are any other links you’d like me to include.

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

In case you missed it, I shared my thoughts on the new USDA Dietary Guidelines over at my personal blog (and on MSNBC, kinda). Also this week fake sugars find themselves in the spotlight, along with dark meat chicken and the culinary crack pipe. And if you were wondering, we here at Summer Tomato have plenty of reasons to believe breakfast is still important.

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete list of my favorite stories check out my links on Digg. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• The Geek’s Guide to Rebooting Your Kitchen <<Pretty clever way to make your kitchen a more pleasant place to be. (Lifehacker)
• Do Artificial Sweeteners Cause an Insulin Spike? <<Good question. They certainly don’t appear to be good for you. (Mark’s Daily Apple)
• Diet Coke supports American Hearth Month despite soda’s link to increased risk of heart disease <<Insulin response isn’t the only factor important in health. Diet sodas are not a neutral drink. (Los Angeles Times)
• Food is Now Huffable <<BS of the week. Finally we can all stop eating and just free-base our food. Oh wait, that’s a horrible idea. (NBC Bay Area)
• Chicken: Get Over White Meat. Join the Dark Side! <<Chicken breasts are the worst. Seriously. Thighs FTW! (Time)
• Why I still think breakfast’s part of weight management. <<I was frustrated with a recent report that breakfast just “adds calories” to your day. Thanks Yoni for explaining why this study is crap. (Weighty Matters)
• Weight Loss & Breakfast: Eggs are Better <<And adding to that argument, here’s a handful of studies that show choosing eggs in the morning is a great way to go. (Health Habits)
• VitaminWater’s health claims scoffed at by consumer group <<They are also scoffed at by me. (Los Angeles Times)
• Roasting Coffee Beans a Dark Brown Produces Valued Antioxidants, Scientists Find <<To the chagrin of raw foodists, sometimes cooking actually improves the nutritional value of foods. Coffee is no exception. (ScienceDaily)
• Three Teacup Chicken <<As noted above, do yourself a favor and use thighs in this recipe. (Simply Recipes)

What inspired you this week?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Next week I’ll be celebrating my 31st birthday. If you appreciate the work I do for this site and would like to give back, I’m donating all cakes, presents and well wishes to Charity Water. Charity Water helps bring clean water to children and families in Africa who desperately need it. Follow the link to learn more.

http://mycharitywater.org/darya

How to make food taste better without cooking skills, the best geek food article of all time and why Twinkie’s won’t make your life better.

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete reading list join me on Digg. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the Week

• Hard Work Improves the Taste of Food, Study Shows <<Proof that shopping at the farmers market and going to the gym makes vegetables taste better. (Science Daily)
• When Video Games and Butchery Collide, You Get 8-Bit Nose to Tail <<The best story I’ve ever found on the internet. Ever. (Serious Eats)
• Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds <<BS of the week. Is anyone here surprised that you can lose weight and improve cholesterol when you barely eat anything (even if that “thing” is complete junk food)? You shouldn’t be. And this is a great example of why we have bigger fish to fry than weight and cholesterol. (CNN)
• Why I don’t cook at home <<This is cute and worth reading, but I hope Summer Tomato readers know better. (The Oatmeal)
• DHA Improves Memory and Cognitive Function in Older Adults, Study Suggests <<Fish is by far the best source of DHA omega-3 fatty acids. (Science Daily)
• Latest egg recall over salmonella affects 228,000 eggs <<Just when you thought it was safe to eat industrial eggs. (Los Angeles Times)
• While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes Cheese Sales <<Great example of how special interests can influence government policy. Personally I wouldn’t trust my health to recommendations by the US government. (New York Times)
• Red meat: Not so bad after all? <<You might be surprised by the science behind meat consumption. (Nutrition Data)
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Sriracha and Mint <<I recently tried a similar recipe at a local restaurant and it was amazing. This will be appearing in my kitchen soon. (White On Rice)

What inspired you this week?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Michael Pollan thinks food community is essential, organic eggs aren’t all they’re cracked up to be and UCSF scientists help the military figure out what’s killing bees. I also found a cool mythbuster about the best way to clean your produce.

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete reading list join me on Digg. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• The 36-Hour Dinner Party <<Who knew Michael Pollan and Google had so much in common? In line with my post this week about food community at Google, Michael Pollan’s new NYTimes Magazine piece explores the value of good food in fostering good will.
• Is Your Favorite Organic Egg Brand a Factory Farm in Disguise? <<I personally don’t get excited about “organic” eggs at the grocery store, for exactly this reason. I get mine directly from farms I trust. It’s a lot more expensive, so I buy less and appreciate them more. (Mother Jones)
• The Glutton’s Diet: Five Tips from a Food Writer <<BS of the week. Why am I not surprised this dude has trouble losing weight?
• Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery <<This isn’t directly food related, but it’s a cool story and is definitely critical for the future of agriculture in America. Oh, and the scientists are from UCSF 🙂 (New York Times)
• New York City says no to using Food Stamps for sodas <<Finally, a step in the right direction. But Marion Nestle thinks more can be done to promote healthy food choices. (Food Politics)
• Want to lose more fat weight? Get more sleep, study says <<Apparently your quality of sleep reflects the kind of weight you lose. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Claim: A Soap-and-Water Rinse Gets Produce Cleanest <<Nope, water is just as good–so long as you scrub. (New York Times)
• `Early introduction` to egg is best <<Preventing children from being exposed to common food allergens seems to make them more susceptible, not less. Expose them early. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Bento Art: Fantastically Geeky Lunches <<Geek alert. Who wouldn’t want to eat Darth Vadar for lunch? (SFWeekly)
• Skirt steak salad with blue cheese <<Someone accused me of being vegan this week (ha!), so here’s an amazing looking steak salad to chew on. (Smitten Kitchen)

What inspired you this week?