Hot Peppers can be added to salads like Grilled Corn and Tomato Salad and they can be pickled and added to the salad bar. Add them to your recipes for entrees, side dishes, sauces, and dressings, incorporate them into toppings for entrees like a diced onion, jalapeno, and cilantro mix for tacos, or Chipotle Pepper Mayo for sandwiches, create toppings for side dishes like a “Spicy Salsa “, or share them as a fiery taste test item.
Agriculture Facts:
- What makes a hot pepper hot? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the seeds! It is at the point where the seed is attached to the white membrane inside of the pepper that the highest concentration of capsaicin (pronounced kap-SAY-sin), the compound that gives peppers their spicy and pungent flavor, is found.
- While capsaicin may burn and irritate the flesh of mammals, birds are completely immune to its effects. As a result, birds are largely responsible for helping wild peppers spread by eating them and excreting the seeds.
- There are thousands of types of chili (hot) peppers! “Chili pepper” is a very broad term. The hot pepper plant is capable of mutating very quickly, and as a result, there are a ton of varieties—there are over 140 different kinds growing in Mexico alone! The environment also impacts what the pepper will look and taste like: soil, temperature, and the weather all need to be taken into account.
- Peppers, or members of the genus capsicum, come in all shapes, sizes, colors—and spiciness. Despite the huge range of species, only five are domesticated: C. annuum, C. baccatum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, and C. pubescens. Capsicum annuum is the most common of the group; it includes a plethora of cultivars both mild and hot, including bell peppers and jalapeños. The majority of peppers that you can think of all come from this one species.
- Jalapeño and Chipotle peppers come from the same plant! The two spicy peppers are known for having their own distinct tastes, but that’s a result of how they’re treated after being harvested. Chipotle peppers are really just red jalapeños (left on the plant to ripen to a bright red) that have been smoke-dried.
Nutrition and Food Facts:
- Here is a list of popular hot peppers: Jalapeño (a.k.a. Chipotle pepper), Chipotle (darker brown, smoked and dried after harvest), Poblano (a.k.a. Ancho pepper- popular stuffed with cheese in “Chiles Rellenos”), Guindilla Verde (similar to Jalapeno in looks), Basque Fryer (long, finger-like, skinny, green peppers- seen at most grocery stores), Anaheim (larger lime-green peppers), Cayenne (long, twisty, red peppers), Hot Banana (yellow in color, shaped like a Jalapeño), Habanero (fat, smallish, orange peppers), Aji Rojo (orange-red pepper- used in Peruvian cooking), Thai (range in color from bright green, to orange, to firey red- used in Southeast Asian cuisines), Shishito (lime-green, small, and thin-very popular in Japan), and Hot Cherry (usually round, though sometimes more of a triangular shape- commonly called the Heat Bomb!).
- Most people may think of oranges as the best source of vitamin C, but there are a lot of foods that beat its supply. Chili peppers, for example, have about 107 mg of vitamin C, compared to an orange’s 69 mg.
- In addition to making your tongue hurt, capsaicin can also help unblock your sinuses- a spicy pepper can help open things up and relieve congestion.
- A popular natural remedy, when applied topically, cayenne pepper can help stop bleeding. The dried cayenne can either be sprinkled on the injury directly or diluted in water and soaked into a bandage.
- The capsaicin in hot peppers may help lower blood pressure and high cholesterol, and that’s good news for your heart!
- Spicy foods increase satiety, helping you to feel full while eating less, and hot peppers may even help your body to burn more calories. Capsaicin has actually been used to selectively destroy nerve fibers that transmit information from your gut to your brain.
- In addition, hot peppers are chocked-full of vitamin D, vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and beta-carotene.
Literature and Lore:
- Peppers are believed to be one of the first plants to have been domesticated, and chili pepper seeds from over 6000 years ago have been found in Peru and Mexico. The residue of the peppers has also been found on various ancient cooking tools.
Spread the word and build partnerships
Don’t be a solo act. Invite your community to the table!
Promote in-house:
- Announcements
- Newsletters
- Website
- Social media
- Events (health fairs, open houses, garden working events, back to school, holiday activities, parents night, sporting events)
- Meetings (PTO, wellness committee, board of directors, staff professional learning days)
- Food tastings during events
Promote in your community:
- Report on activities and share pictures with news sources
- Share with community partners for their websites, social media and newsletters
- Post fliers at public places (libraries, health centers, non-profit hospitals, garden groups, local farm hubs, farmers markets, health agencies)
- Ask students to create and publicize local food stories – include photos or create videos
Invite others onsite to get involved:
- Build impact by engaging culinary arts, Future Farmers of America, botany, ecocentric and garden programs
- Create relationships and engage non-profit hospitals, garden groups, local farm hubs, farmers markets, health agencies and advocates
- Find support in local culinary leaders and businesses
Curricular Connections and Activities
K-12:
- Chili Peppers Lesson from University of Illinois Extension in Champaign. Click here for the PDF.
- Peppers Lesson comparing different types of hot and sweet peppers from University of Illinois Extension in Champaign. Click here for the PDF.
Menu Icons – right click to save these images
Recipes
We have many recipes for you to look through in our Recipe Index! Here you can see take-home recipes for use in the community as well as more choices for your cafeteria. We have hot and cold recipes for most foods. Be sure to use the provided icons on your menu!
Featured Food Service Recipe 1: Cuban Black Bean Salad-Jalapeño Peppers
Featured Food Service Recipe 2: Asian Sunbutter Broccoli Noodle Salad- Jalapeño Peppers
Featured CACFP Recipe: Three Sister’s Vegetable Soup- Jalapeño Peppers
Featured Home Recipe #1: Skillet Chili Lime Corn- Jalapeño Peppers
Featured Home Recipe #2: Baked Chicken and Spinach Flautas- Jalapeño Peppers