Seasoned Shopper – Sep. 2026

    Peppers stir up the senses of cooks, diners and gardeners with a rainbow of colors to look at and flavors to please every palate. Peppers come in many forms, from fresh to powdered to roasted and pickled, but their real diversity comes with the varying degrees of heat they offer.
    The hundred of varieties of peppers grown worldwide are distinguished by their taste – either sweet or hot (chili) – but all are members of the capsicum family. Confusion may surface when fresh chili peppers are dried and they are called by a different name. Poblano or pasilla peppers are called ancho when dried or ground, while fresh Anaheim peppers become dried California peppers and jalapeno changes to chipotle when smoke-dried.
    Bell peppers, named for their shape, are the most common of the sweet peppers. All are green in color as they develop and as they reach full maturity they turn red, yellow or purple, depending on variety.
    I prefer green bell peppers when I make fajitas, but as they stay on the plant longer and develop more sugars, ripe-colored peppers are generally sweeter and more nutritious than green ones. All the better for stuffing, adding to pasta dishes and blending into sauces.
    The whole gamut of hot peppers are known collectively as chili peppers. Colors include green, red and shades of brown, but it is the amount of the heat compound capsaicin, not color, which determines the degree of heat. Capsaicin is concentrated in the interior ribs and veins near the seed heart of the pepper – not in the seeds. The seeds taste hot only because they are close to the veins.
    Chili peppers can be tamed to some extent. By removing both the seeds and veins from the pepper with a sharp paring knife (and wearing gloves) I can remove some of the chili’s wow factor. But remember there are still plenty of chili peppers that remain spicy even without the veins and seeds – cayenne, serrano and habanero to name a few.
    While chili peppers conjure up thoughts of hot, Anaheim and Pasilla chili peppers are relatively mild. The heat is turned up as you go up the Scoville scale.
    Wilbur Scoville developed a test in 1912 to measure the heat of chilies based on how much capsaicin they contain. For example, bell peppers, poblanos and Anaheim peppers are 100 to 2500 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), cayenne peppers and Tabasco sauces are 30,000 to 100,00 SHU, and if you’re looking for something super-hot, it’s Ghost Peppers and Carolina Reapers at 350,000 to 2,690,000 SHU. Too hot for me.
    Roasted peppers take on unexpected flavors when added to pasta, salads and bean dishes. Chipotles (roasted jalapeno) and roasted red pepper are most common and made by baking, broiling or simply searing the fresh pepper with a long, wooden handled fork and holding it over a gas flame until blackened. Once charred, place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let steam for 8 to 10 minutes. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel, stem and seed if necessary.

Pepper and Tomato Salad
    2 medium to large tomatoes (heirlooms like Black Russian or Cherokee Purple are delicious), cut into ¼” to 1/3” slices
    4 ounces whole milk mozzarella cheese, cut into ¼ inch slices
    1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
    ¼ cup drained capers, rinsed (optional)
    ¼ cup olive oil
    2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (fig balsamic or a balsamic reduction works well)
    6 basil leaves

    Alternate and overlap slices of tomato and mozzarella on a platter. Spoon a little chopped pepper on each slice of mozzarella. Sprinkle with capers. Drizzle the oil, then the vinegar over the salad. Garnish with basil leaves. Serves 4 to 6.
    The Orinda Farmers’ Market is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Orinda Way in Orinda Village. More information is available at cccfm.org, Facebook.com/OrindaFarmersMarket and Instagram @OrindaFarmersMarket or call the market hotline at 925.322.6228.