Red or green?

[Barry Charles]

Coach, this question gets asked in New Mexico millions of times every day. In it's complete form, the question is: Do you want red or green chili on your ( Blank)?

The general question Im asking is, since the regions that grow and produce Red or Green, are using the exact same chili, red being the green that is ultimately dried and powderized, is there a nutritional difference? And more general, for any fruit or vegetable? Mass production/chemical treatments/additives aside, is a grape the same nutritionally as a raisin?

In the case of red or green, there are some differences, like green is roasted and has the tough skin removed but red is more ripe. We consume a lot more than condiment (trace) servings. For example, a proper green chili cheese burger has the equivalent of one or two large chilis and that sure seems like a serving of vegetables to me.

Thanks!

(BTW, ordering "Christmas" means half and half. Me? I just order two)

[Karl Schudt]

I think this might be above my pay grade.

Have any of the various varieties of peppers in the high plains of New Mexico made it into the nutritional databases? I would use that data. Go into MyFitnessPal or whatever app you use (I like joyapp.com), and look for "green peppers." Find the one that you would like to eat. Use that number.

Practically speaking, you are unlikely to get enough of your macronutrients from chilis for it to matter.

1 habanero pepper, for example, is 18 calories. How many are you going to eat?

If you eat enough peppers for it to matter in your macros, you are more of a man than I am.

[Barry Charles]

Roger. I’ve always assumed a New Mexico green chili was nutritionally about the same as a bell pepper. And certainly if you ate a whole bell pepper that would a “serving” of vegetable. The macros are nothing.

The Wikipedia article, New Mexico chile - Wikipedia, has nutrition for green but nothing about red.

It really doesn’t matter at all, I just wanted to sound like an expert next time I ordered!

Coach need any red? It stores and ships well. PM me. Thanks!

[Karl Schudt]

I appreciate the thought, Barry, but you don't need to ship me peppers.

[Robert Santana]

Coach, this question gets asked in New Mexico millions of times every day. In it's complete form, the question is: Do you want red or green chili on your ( Blank)?

The general question Im asking is, since the regions that grow and produce Red or Green, are using the exact same chili, red being the green that is ultimately dried and powderized, is there a nutritional difference? And more general, for any fruit or vegetable? Mass production/chemical treatments/additives aside, is a grape the same nutritionally as a raisin?

In the case of red or green, there are some differences, like green is roasted and has the tough skin removed but red is more ripe. We consume a lot more than condiment (trace) servings. For example, a proper green chili cheese burger has the equivalent of one or two large chilis and that sure seems like a serving of vegetables to me.

Thanks!

(BTW, ordering "Christmas" means half and half. Me? I just order two)

Red chilis tend to be higher in vitamin C than green and are spicier. Both have a high antioxidant content, which can reduce and/or manage your risk of inflammation. Dried fruit is nutritionally different than fresh fruit because it is going to have a higher sugar content. Doesn't mean its necessarily bad for you, just different.