Muffins and Mozart

When you think about peppers, the first thing that you probably think about is just how hot they can make your food…

But there is one type of pepper that contains hardly any capsaicinoids, the chemical typically found in peppers that are to blame for making other peppers so hot.

This pepper is the bell pepper.

Bell peppers actually have a mild and sometimes sweet flavor because they contain about four grams of sugar per cup.

The bell pepper also differs from other peppers because it is larger, rounder, crunchier and milder.

********************

The Nightshade Family

Most people consider peppers to be vegetables, but they are actually fruits which belong to the nightshade family.

The nightshade family includes many other produce items—including chili peppers, cayenne peppers, eggplants, tomatoes and potatoes.

*****

Color

Bell peppers come in a wide variety of colors—such as the typical red, yellow, and green…but also orange, purple, brown, and ivory.

This range of colors depends on which variety the pepper is and how ripe the pepper is when it is picked….since most varieties of bell peppers  start off green and then change color as they mature.

I’ve wondered if I should buy the red yellow, or the green…and why it really even matters.

******

Bumps

As most of already can figure out, bell peppers all have a similar structure and shape, regardless of their color.. They all have a smooth outer skin surrounding a fresh, crunchy flesh inside as well as a hollow area containing countless seeds.

The more mature the pepper is whenever it is picked, the sweeter the pepper will be. In other words, orange and yellow bell peppers are sweeter than green bell peppers…and red bell peppers are the sweetest.

The more mature the pepper is when picked, also the more vitamin C it will contain.

Peppers with three bumps on the bottom are thought of by many as being better for cooking, while those wacith four bumps are better for eating raw because they are sweeter.

Not so sure if this is the case or not…(actually I do most of my grocery shopping through Instacart, so whether I get three bumps or four depends on what the Instacart shopper picks up…not like I’m gonna tell my shopper that I want bell peppers with three bumps on the bottom, right?!)…