Tips for Preparing and Cooking
Tips for Cooking with Chili Peppers
Be very careful when you are handling and cooking fresh chili peppers. One of the peppers' most pungent compounds, capsaicin, can cause a severe burning sensation if it touches your skin or lips, or comes in contact with your eyes.
Because of this, some people prefer to wear thin rubber gloves when working with chili peppers. If you choose not to do this, make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after handling them. Additionally, you should wash your knife and cutting board after cutting these peppers.
Capsaicin primarily resides in the seeds and fleshy white inner membranes. If you want to enjoy the pungency of peppers but minimize their heat, you can remove these parts, although capsaicin is responsible for much of chili pepper's healing properties.
There is a range of "hotness" between pepper varieties and sometimes also within the same varieties. Therefore, each time you cook with them you may need to adjust the amount you use. Before adding chili peppers to a recipe, taste a little piece to determine the spice level, so you will know how much to add.
How to Enjoy
A Few Quick Serving Ideas
The next time you make healthy sautéed vegetables, add some chili peppers to turn up the spice volume.
Add chili peppers to your favorite corn bread recipe to give it an extra spark.
Add minced chili peppers to yogurt and use as a condiment or dip.
Add jalapenos to your favorite tuna salad recipe.
Purée fresh chili peppers together with olive oil, garlic, coriander, peppermint, and caraway. If you would like, add your own favorite herbs and spices to this mixture to make your own version of Harissa, a condiment popular in the some Middle Eastern and North African countries.
Keep a container of cayenne pepper on the table right next to the pepper mill, so you and your family can add a pinch of extra spice to any of your meals.
Cayenne pepper and lemon juice make great complements to cooked bitter greens such as collards, kale and mustard greens.
Individual Concerns
Capsaicin can irritate or burn your eyes or hands. Chili oil can stick to the skin, so wash hands thoroughly after handling the peppers and be cautious about touching your hands to your eyes. Be aware that pepper dust from grinding dried peppers can irritate throat and eyes. You can protect yourself by wearing a dust mask and goggles.
If you find you can't take the heat, cool off with a glass of milk. A protein in milk called casein can help douse capsaicin's fire.
Chili Pepper Belongs to the Nightshade Family
Chili pepper is one of the vegetables in the nightshade (Solanaceae) family, which also includes eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers and white potatoes. Anecdotal case histories link improvement in arthritis symptoms with removal of these foods; however, there are no scientific studies to date that confirm this information.
Hot Peppers and Pesticide Residues
According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in their 2014 report, Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce, conventionally grown hot peppers are contaminated with concentrations of organophosphate insecticides, which are considered to be highly toxic to the nervous system. While they were not among the 12 varieties of produce most concentrated in overall pesticide residues (and therefore not part of the EWG's traditional "Dirty Dozen"), the EWG felt that this organophosphate concentration was relevant enough to bring attention to hot peppers. They actually renamed their produce category of concern from "Dirty Dozen" to "Dirty Dozen Plus" with hot peppers, kale, and collard greens being the "Plus" conventionally grown produce. Therefore, individuals wanting to avoid pesticide-associated health risks may want to avoid consumption of hot peppers unless they are grown organically.