Eat responsibly!
“Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor”
Which makes me ask the question; Did William Cowper, who coined this quote, like it “Spicy & Hot”?
One of my fondest memories is of papa Gene, my grandfather, from Birmingham, Alabama. He grew so many fabulous vegetables in his garden. But what I remember most was his peppers. We joked about it as kids, but papa was on the ball! If anyone had a toothache, backache, or indigestion, papa would send one of us out to go and pick some peppers. He cured everything with peppers and apple cider vinegar, seriously.
He’d normally pick fresh peppers right before dinner, just to add that extra flavor to whatever my grandmother was cooking. But I especially enjoyed when she’d make her mustard greens & corn meal dumplings. She would just add peppers to the boiling water to amp up the flavor and chop them in her cornmeal dumpling batter to add extra zing. Talk about flavor, yum!
It’s already a known medical fact that peppers, chilies, habanero, Jalapenos, and host of other peppers have an amazing effect on our health. Capsaicin, which is the active ingredient in peppers have been proven to reduce prostate cancer tumors, remove kidney stones, and keep our hearts healthy. There are a million and one phenomenal healthy benefits for including peppers in our daily diet that we can list. But the main one that really comes to mind is the endorphins that the brain releases, when we eat a variety of different spicy foods that contain peppers.
Here are few of my favorite recipes that will add spice to your life, variety and simply heat up your winter. I have to thank, my brother, Nizar, and his good friend Sammie, who’s from Tunisia who introduced me to this North African & Middle Eastern staple/ condiment which is so flavorful and spicy and just downright delicious. Harissa is a very beautiful spicy chili paste that can be served with bread and olive oil as an appetizer. And it’s used to season lamb, chicken, fish, beef or vegetable dishes.