Description
Orange bell peppers are bright orange through to the center. Orange bell peppers are crisp in texture and offer a sweet vegetable flavor with fruity overtones. Bell peppers are commonly served as a vegetable rather than a spice. (Scoville units: 0-100).
Orange bell peppers are available year-round.
Bell peppers are low in calories, have no fat and are sodium-free and cholesterol-free. A good source of vitamin C, they contain 130 percent of the RDA in a five and one-half ounce serving for this nutrient.
Raw or cooked, Orange bell peppers enhance the flavor and color of salads, stir-fries, salsas, soups, stews, sauces, chili and pastas. Colorful slices, squares or julienne strips make an attractive edible garnish for most anything. Excellent grilled, baked, stuffed, sautéed and roasted, whole bell peppers are ideal for stuffing with rice and meat mixtures.
Bell peppers are thought to have been developed during pre-Columbian times in the Americas. Food historians claim an English pirate from Panama wrote the first reference to bell peppers in 1681.
Bell peppers belong to the nightshade family, botanically named Solanaceae, which includes white potatoes, tomatoes and eggplant. The genus Solanum, from the Latin word solamen, means "quieting" and so named because of the sedative properties some plants in this species contain. This large family consists of more than seventy-five genera and over two thousand species. Shape and size of the leaves produced on these numerous nightshade members vary to the extreme, but the commonality they share is the fact all leaves grow alternately on the stems. Native to Holland and a hardy insect-free variety, Holland bell peppers are hothouse-grown in a controlled environment planted from seed. Imported supplies come from Holland, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, the Netherlands and Belgium.