Peppers

About
Members of the genus Capsicum, all peppers - both sweet peppers and chili peppers - are excellent sources of many essential nutrients, especially vitamin C - by weight, green bell peppers have twice as much as citrus fruit (red peppers have three times as much). Moreover, red peppers are quite a good source of beta-carotene. Found in a panorama of red, green, yellow, and purple hues, sweet peppers are guaranteed to add visual zest to any dish.

Varieties
Bell: With three to four lobes, these sweet bell-shaped peppers can be green, red, yellow, orange, brown (sometimes called chocolate peppers), or purple, depending on the variety and the stage of ripeness. Most are sold in the mature green stage - fully developed, but not ripe. As they ripen on the vine, most bell peppers turn red and become sweeter. Bell peppers have no "bite". Instead, they have a mild tang and a crunchy texture that makes them suitable for eating raw; their size, shape, and firmness allow them to be stuffed whole. (Mexi-Bell, a cross between bell peppers and hot peppers, look like small bell peppers, but have a hotter bite.)

Banana: These mild yellow peppers, resembling bananas in shape and color, are available fresh or pickled in jars. It is important to taste one before using it in a recipe because of its resemblance to a moderately hot twin called Hungarian wax. Both banana and Hungarian wax peppers may be labeled "yellow wax" in stores, with no indication of their pungency.

Cubanelle: These long, tapered peppers, about 4" in length, are either light green or yellow; occasionally, you will find red ones that have been fully matured. Cubanelles are more flavorful than bells and are perfect for sauteing.

Pimiento: Large and heart-shaped, pimientos (sometimes spelled "pimentos") are generally sold in jars, but every so often you can find them fresh - fully ripe and red - in specialty markets. These sweet peppers are mild yet flavorful; their thick, meaty flesh makes them good candidates for roasting; in fact, the pimientos sold in jars are usually roasted and peeled. Large red bell peppers are sometimes packaged as pimientos. You can tell the difference by the shade of red; true pimientos will have an orangy tomato cast, but bells are bright red.

Availability
Sweet bell peppers are in markets all year in good supply, but they are slightly more plentiful in the summer months.

Nutrition Information:
• For complete nutritional information(peppers, green, sweet, raw), click here.
• For complete nutritional information (peppers, red, sweet, raw), click here.
• For complete nutritional information (peppers, yellow, sweet, raw), click here.
Additional Information
• Green Bell Peppers - Why Eat It - Selection - Storage - Preparation
• Red Bell Peppers - Why Eat It - Selection - Storage - Preparation
• Sweet Peppers - Why Eat It - Selection - Storage - Preparation
• From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia