The best way to Use Bell Peppers: Diet Advantages, Cooking Ideas & Simple Recipes

Uncover tips on how to use bell peppers with vitamin suggestions, cooking concepts, and straightforward recipes. Be taught the well being advantages and finest methods to get pleasure from this versatile veggie!

Ring in the summertime season with candy, colourful bell peppers! Brilliant, crisp, and full of taste, bell peppers are probably the most versatile greens within the kitchen. Whether or not you’re slicing them uncooked for a crunchy snack, roasting them for savory dishes, or mixing them into sauces, there’s no scarcity of how to make use of these colourful powerhouses. On this information, we’ll discover all the pieces you might want to find out about tips on how to use bell peppers—from their spectacular dietary advantages to sensible cooking suggestions and a roundup of scrumptious, plant-based recipes that profit from this antioxidant-rich veggie. Whether or not you’re new to bell peppers or in search of contemporary inspiration, I’ve received you lined.

An assortment of bell peppers on the Pasadena farmers market.

What Are Bell Peppers?

These crunchy, flavorful plant meals have been traced again over the millennia to their roots in South and Central America, the place Columbus so delighted in them that he introduced the flavorful vegetable again to Europe in 1493. Since then, they’ve traveled all over the world and have been celebrated in lots of conventional cuisines, similar to Italian, French, Asian, and Greek. Are you able to even think about a Greek Salad or Asian stir-fry with out the pizzazz of a pepper? Inexperienced, purple, white, yellow, orange, purple, brown and even black—bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) are available a rainbow of shades, in addition to sizes. I like these photos of the colourful bell peppers I’ve discovered at my native farmers markets. I at all times develop bell peppers in my summer season backyard annually too.

Bell peppers are full of antioxidant compounds.

Bell Pepper Diet

Highly effective, disease-fighting phytochemicals give bell peppers their many vibrant colours. And that’s not all; these veggies are bursting with vitamin. Bell peppers are a wonderful supply of antioxidants that defend us from creating power illness, specifically nutritional vitamins A, C, and E. A one-cup serving supplies 317% of the Every day Worth (DV) of antioxidant vitamin C, 93% DV of vitamin A, 22% DV of vitamin B6, and 12% DV of vitamin E.

Simply slice a crisp bell pepper into quite a few dishes, similar to this straightforward recipe for Black Beans and Rice Vegan Bowl.

High 5 Methods to Use Bell Peppers within the Kitchen

Have a good time by ringing bell peppers in your food regimen, with these scrumptious wholesome suggestions and recipes.

This flavorful Avocado Corn Salsa is full of crispy veggies, together with bell peppers.

1. Add Peppers to your Appetizers
Bell peppers are an effective way so as to add fiber and crunch to any dip or sauce. This Avocado Corn Salsa combines the artwork of conventional guacamole with veggies similar to purple bell pepper, candy corn, and black olives for a nutrition-packed dip completely paired with corn tortilla chips or sprouted wheat crackers. And don’t neglect to pair your artichoke dips, hummus, and ranch dip with mini bell peppers or bell pepper slices.

Mix in bell peppers into smoothies, similar to this Turmeric Mango Carrot Smoothie.

2. Mix ‘em Up
To money in on that candy, peppery style and highly effective nutrient profile, attempt tossing a bell pepper into your subsequent smoothie. Match varied colours to fit your blends: inexperienced bell peppers in a inexperienced smoothie, purple bell peppers in a strawberry smoothie, and yellow bell peppers in a Turmeric Mango Carrot smoothie, which supplies the anti-inflammatory advantages of turmeric with the antioxidants from mango, carrot, and bell peppers. Merely cube up some yellow bell peppers and mix all substances collectively till clean, and luxuriate in!

Don’t neglect so as to add bell peppers to bowl meals, similar to this flavorful recipe for Moroccan Chickpea Sorghum Bowl.

3. Make them the Bell of the Bowl
The bell of this bowl is beautiful purple bell pepper, simply one of many many pops of wealthy colour in my favourite Moroccan Chickpea Sorghum Bowl. This grain bowl is excessive in fiber and full of taste. You’ll be able to roast bell peppers to incorporate in bowls, in addition to aspect dishes, however they’re additionally yummy contemporary. See me in motion on KTLA 5 discussing this bowl and the advantages of a plant-based food regimen right here.

Toss bell pepper strips into your subsequent salad bowl, similar to on this hearty recipe for Tempeh Chilly Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing.

4. Create a Toss Up
Bell peppers are simply so good tossed into a variety of veggie-based salads, similar to this Kiwi Bell Pepper Salad, Lima Bean Salad, and Gado Gado Indonesian Salad. Simply slice into strips or chunks, and toss in with salad greens, pasta, grains, and veggies for added texture and taste.

Fill the cavity of bell peppers along with your favourite stuffing, similar to on this recipe for Southwestern Stuffed Peppers with Black Beans and Quinoa.

5. Stuff Them
Break up open a bell pepper and understand its prospects! That cavity is a superb vessel for yummy fillings. These festive Stuffed Bell Peppers are an ideal, straightforward and filling meal resolution, because of a mixture of Southwestern spices, black bean and quinoa, with a creamy vegan dressing on high. It’ll fulfill the entire household!