Tips & Tricks: Peeling Ginger Root

I never bought ginger root before about a year ago. No reason except that I thought I was perfectly content with the little dried jar stuff. WRONG. Don't do it!! Buy the real stuff! It's cheap and simple to use. I'll even show you how peel it!

Ginger root kind of looks alien-like. Kind of scary. Looks like there's a chance it could bite you if you touch it. Don't worry...I've used ginger root many, many times in the past year (for recipes like Veggie Packed Peanut Butter Pasta) and I swear to you that it does NOT bite. You can quote me on that one.

So you buy the ginger root from the store (you can find it almost anywhere now) and bring it home. Simple, right? You got this. Next, you get a spoon. Everyone has a spoon. This is seeming easier and easier. That's because it is. Take the spoon and scrape the skin of the ginger off. Ginger root is a little flexible so you can even get around the little knobbies pretty well. That's it. Nothing scary. All you need is ginger root, which remember I said doesn't bite, and a spoon. And a trash can for the peels if you want to get technical on me I guess. The peels could even be composted though so a trash can is actually not essential in this process.

To use the ginger, prepare it by grating it with a microplane or chopping it into whatever size you may need. Put what you don't use in a freezer bag and freeze. The ginger root will last in the freezer for about 3 months and grates beautifully frozen. I just pull it out, grate the amount I need, then stick it back in the freezer until its next adventure awaits. Simple, folks. So go get some ginger root and make something!