Subscribe
Menu

Sweet Peppers (Bell & Non-Bell)

Capsicum annuum

June - September

Cooking Tips

  • If using sweet peppers in baked egg dishes like frittatas, quiches and stratas, sometimes the peppers’ extra moisture can prevent the dish from setting properly. Consider pre-cooking the peppers slightly to release some of the moisture before adding to the dish.
  • Slice raw orange and yellow peppers over a salad or pasta with an olive oil dressing which enhances the peppers’ flavors.
  • Coat whole or halved red peppers with olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano and roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Or toss on the grill. Turn whole peppers every couple minutes.

Details

After seeing the limited selection in most grocery stores, it’s almost overwhelming to witness the variety of bell and non-bell sweet peppers carted into the farmers market each week. While the green bell pepper is the default image for most, there’s so much more variety and flavor out there—red, orange, yellow, purple, brown; traditional bell pepper shape to horn-like, tapered, conical, or twisted. And each with their own distinct flavor.
Green peppers are essentially unripe colored peppers and are less sweet and flavorful, some say even bitter or metallic tasting. If you’ve never liked green peppers, give an orange or yellow pepper a try for a sweeter, smoother flavor without the bitterness that some green peppers have. And don’t be afraid of the non-bell shaped peppers at the market either. Ask the farmer what each tastes like and what they’d be best for.
Look for peppers that are firm but not stiff (an indicator of immaturity), deeply colored and with a shiny exterior. If they seem heavy for their size, that’s good—it means their walls have thickened and will have more pepper for your dollar.

Nutrition

As sweet peppers ripen, going from green to colored, their sweetness doubles—and so does their vitamin C (158 percent daily value) and A (30 percent daily value) content.

NOTES: Store sweet peppers loose in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator. If super fresh, they may keep for one to two weeks. If they start to get soft, they don’t necessarily need to be tossed, but their flavor will probably have lessened. To freeze, wash, core and halve the peppers and place in one layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. When frozen, transfer to freezer bags and remove all the air. Many preservation manuals also recommend blanching before freezing.

Storage Tips

Store sweet peppers loose in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator. If super fresh, they may keep for one to two weeks. If they start to get soft, they don’t necessarily need to be tossed, but their flavor will probably have lessened. To freeze, wash, core and halve the peppers and place in one layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. When frozen, transfer to freezer bags and remove all the air. Many preservation manuals also recommend blanching before freezing.