Peppers, peppers, who wants peppers?!
This year we grew a few different varieties of sweet peppers – your traditional bell pepper that starts green and eventually turns to red (but you can eat it at any stage along the way), a chocolate bell pepper that is more of a purple/brown color, yellow banana peppers and red, orange and yellow cornitos. The different colors of peppers actually carry slightly different nutritional content as well.
Nutritional value of peppers
Peppers have high amounts of vitamins A and C as well as well as being full of antioxidants. They are known for helping boost your immune system as well as provide support for your eyes and healthy skin. Peppers are almost always included on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list because of the high occurrence of pesticides used in conventionally grown peppers. So our family and CSA members can feel good about consuming the peppers from our farm – no pesticides, herbicides or fungicides here! Definitely one to look for at your local farmer’s market.
Ideas for cooking with peppers
Sweet peppers can be eaten raw, roasted, grilled, used in stir fries, etc. Steaming peppers can boost their nutritional benefit by increasing the efficacy of the antioxidants. So perhaps try some new cooking methods to get the most out of your peppers.
We often use peppers in egg bakes, fajitas and enchiladas, while one of the most popular recipes is for stuffed bell peppers. You can stuff them with rice and veggies, meat, beans, quinoa…the options are truly endless. Simply slice your pepper in half, remove the seeds, and stuff with all the goodness. I typically will saute other veggies like onions, zucchini and garlic before combining with cooked rice or ground beef for the stuffing. We’ll usually add some cheese on top, cover the peppers with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so. Remove the foil and let it back for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbly.
At one of our farm to table dinners this year we made a grilled pepper and eggplant dish that received rave reviews, so check out the recipe here if you want to try it for yourself!
