Health Benefits of "HOT" Peppers.

"Hotter is better

Although the chemical compound capsaicin itself is colorless and odorless, it is generally associated with hot peppers. Hot peppers like the ghost pepper and the newly crowned Smokin' Ed's Carolina Reaper contain some of the highest amounts of capsaicin found naturally. The amount of capsaicin in a pepper is measured using the Scoville index, where pure capsaicin is rated at 16,000,000. The hottest peppers in the world only measure up to 1.5-1.6 million Scovilles. Jalapenos and cayenne pepper come in at around 8,000 and 50,000, respectively. For beginners to spicy food, start small and add more heat as tolerance increases, you can always add more, and you don't want to ruin a meal with too much."
(Source: Natural News by Dr. Daniel Zagst)

When I think about Chili Peppers I usually correlate them to ethnic cuisines. There are some really great benefits to including "spicy" peppers into your diet. I have been going through 1 pound bags of Jalapenos and Serranos' each week for a while now, and not to mention Kui and Jesse love their food spicy so they go quick. Since they have become such a constant in my food world as of late I decided to do a little research so I could share my findings. There are the really obvious things about hot peppers that we all know like they clear the sinuses and are classified as a fruit, so they have to be full of beneficial nutrients. Peppers like Jalapenos, Serranos, Habaneros, and Chili (Cayenne Peppers) have Capsaicin, which is the reason why they are so hot and should not to be confused with the Capsicum or Bell Peppers which has none.

Peppers, in general, are full of Vitamins A, C, and K. Vitamins A and C prevent cell damage, improve immune function and aging related diseases. They are also great for the reduction of inflammation found in arthritis and asthma. The Vitamin K supports healthy blood clotting, healthy bones and protection of cells.

Capsaicin has been shown to speed up a persons metabolism and we all know that a slow metabolism is a deterring factor in losing weight. Eating spicy peppers (raw mainly) with meals has also shown to help you eat less, but to consume more water which will help you feel full faster.

"Ironically, the same intense heat from capsaicin that makes hot peppers intolerable to some people also makes it an effective pain reliever. Topical capsaicin cream or ointment can be used on the skin to help relieve pain from surgery, neuralgia, shingles, cluster headaches, arthritis, psoriasis and mouth sores caused by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Capsaicin relieves pain by stimulating and then immediately decreasing intensity of pain signals sent to the brain. It also blocks Substance P, a neuropeptide responsible for transmitting pain signals to the brain and causing swelling of nerve fibers." (source Amazing Health Benefits of Capsaicin by Jennifer LaMaire)

To further the above fact that spicy peppers clear the sinuses, the nasal passage is cleared by thinning the mucus and relieving congestion. Antibacterial properties of the peppers capsaicin fight off chronic infections and allergy symptoms. It has also been found to ease the pains associated with COPD and emphysema which are common lung complications.

Lastly for health benefits, something we all love to hear, "CANCER KILLER." The capsaicin kills cancer cells by prompting the mitochondria in the cells to go through "apoptosis," in layman's terms means cell-suicide.

"When exposed to capsaicin cancer cells are destroyed but there is no damaged to the surrounding tissue. Prostate cancer tumors shrank by 80 percent when exposed to capsaicin." (source: cont. by Dr. Zagst)

It has been really easy to integrate peppers into my diet, I slice them up raw and throw them into practically everything, soups, stews, pasta, beans, cottage cheese, they are pretty versatile. While the heat of each individual pepper can vary, if you can get used to the heat you will gain a whole lot more than a "spicy" mouth:)



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Pak Choi: Highly underestimated

Most of us know it as "Bok Choy" but I prefer to call things what they are. Pronouncing them as they are called is important to me as well, and that is not pretension, but a respectful preference. You can buy this in most any grocery store, I actually found this at a Mexican market, oddly though most people find it almost completely synonymous with Asian food fare. Pak Choi is actually a form of cabbage, although not looking or tasting anything like a traditional one, and is used in some versions of "Kimchi".(Korean pickled cabbage) 

My first discernible experience with this "white vegetable" was when working for Cilantro Live and they had an "Arame & Dulse" Bok Choy salad. I didn't prefer the seaweed aspect of that salad but fell in love with this cabbage's texture. It's really hard to explain to someone what it tastes like when they've never tried it before. It looks like celery, but isn't stringy, it has a leafy top, but isn't lettuce, and definitely doesn't taste like cabbage. I find Pak Choi to have a bland, earthy but pleasant flavor. I feel my liking is more about the texture, cooked or raw. 

"When speaking about health benefits Pak Choi is full of Vitamin A and C. One cup of cooked bok choy provides more than 100% of the recommended dietary allowance of A, and close to two-thirds the RDA of C." (<- From WebMd.com "Bok Choy 10 Healthy facts.)

Pak Choi is also a source of Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Calcium and Vitamin B-6 and has been found to be one of the Cancer eliminating foods. 

Unfortunately besides Stir fry and Asian cuisine, you don't see much of it around, and I don't think most people would even know what to do with it. But here on Mondays we love Pak Choi and below is a couple quick ways to use it.

 This is a lightly sauteed version of Pak Choi with a little Olive oil and spices.

Ingredients:

2 cup Pak Choi
1 diced Scallion
dash of pepper and lemon chili salt
2-3 Tbs. olive oil

Directions:

In a bowl mix all the ingredients together. Heat a pan and throw it all in on a high heat for 1-2 minutes tossing and turning, you don't want to cook it but rather flash fry it.

Last week I made The Hunebee and Kuizzy a spicy Pak Choi and red bell pepper salad, marinated in a tangy vinaigrette and serrano peppers.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2

Cost: $2.00 per jar

Ingredients:

(2 jars)
4 cups Pak Choi
2 serrano peppers, diced very thin
1/2 cup red bell peppers, diced
1 scallion diced

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
dash of ginger powder
salt and pepper

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients, and then jar it. The salad should keep for up to 5 days, but again be careful of the serrano pepper's heat. The Hunebee and Kuizzy love SPICY food. You might want to try one pepper the first time.

ENJOY!

Winner, Winner Chicken dinner!

I was about to take the easy way out tonight. I've been exhausted and I see no signs of stopping. Ugh, kinda intimidating when I really think about it, but none the less...ONWARD and UPWARD! Todays agenda was house cleaning overhaul but dinner still had to be made and that's the funny part of being a stay at home Mommy that they never tell you.

Maybe I should enlighten you with the fact that I love to procrastinate. Although in recent times I have found that knowing that and then challenging myself to work to the bone has become such a great joy. Positive energy attracts positive energy and from my diligence this evening I was met with two more opportunities in my personal cook endeavour. I "Tweeted" tonight that I'm seriously in need of a bigger kitchen now, but that has always been the case. Along with my procrastination, I'm a "more the merrier" kinda lady, and somewhere along the line those two together seem to contradict themselves in my own head, but I love it.

Back to the simple dinner that turned into work:) I decided that just doing it is better than skimping out AND the health of my two favorite people in the world is more important than me being lazy. The Hunebee's Mom sent home an organic goodie bag for me this Monday. A bundle of flowing green onions, an over-stuffed bag of minty mint, perfect limes and randomly growing cilantro from her ever bountiful, organic home garden. I had a huge bag of roma tomatoes that I got on sale, 3lb.s for $1, and I decided that I wanted to do a fresh tomato sauce. I was about to add olives and then I remembered having dinner with Momma-Gina last week and that was one of the things she told me to stop eating(tooo much salt). The sauce was for a couple chicken breasts thawing in my sink. I was mulling over what to make with it but rice, potatoes, or pasta just sounded like too much. I was really trying to go NO-carb, so I opted for a Panzanella like salad...ha.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Cost: $7 for the whole dinner

Ingredients for Chicken:

2 medium(on the large side) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced in two(4 pieces)
2 Tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper

Sauce:

3 roma tomatoes, diced
1 large garlic clove, chopped
2 green onions, dice the bulb up to the dark green(set aside for salad and garnish)
1/8 cup carrot, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
Dash of dried basil, thyme, oregano and parsley
1/2 cup fresh chopped spinach
salt and pepper
1/3 tsp. white sugar

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, saute scallions, carrots and garlic in olive oil then salt and pepper. Add chopped tomatoes, herbs, salt pepper and sugar. Once the sauce has coked down a little add spinach, turn down the heat and let it simmer very low.

I like to rinse and dry my chicken before cooking it. In the oil, fry on both sides after seasoning. Tonight I added the juice from the chicken directly to the sauce, IT"S FLAVOR!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pre-shredded carrot
1 roma tomato, diced
1 persian cucumber, partially peeled
1 cup of croutons (Garlic)
about a 1/3-1/4 cup of scallion leaves chopped

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. yellow mustard
Salt
1 small serrano pepper, sliced thin, about 1 Tbs. (watch out!)

Toss the salad and dressing right before you are about to serve so it doesn't get soggy. Also be careful of  the serrano pepper, use less if you aren't familiar with its heat.

ENJOY!