Well, it’s that time of the month again! It’s VEG-UCATION time!
I’m super excited once again to be joining with some blogger friends to write our monthly veg-cation through a blog circle.
This month our featured vegetable is the Hatch Green Chili.
People are going cray-cray over Hatch Green Chilies! Seriously! I see people walking out the grocery store with boxes of peppers! BOXES! I think they are great, but I couldn’t imagine what in the world people were doing with boxes of peppers. Until I finally asked somebody.
Hatch green chilies have a short growing season, so you gotta scoop them up fast! Since they are only available for a limited time, lots of people buy boxes of them, roast them, and then freeze them. Isn’t that a great idea? It sounds like a perfect way to enjoy chilies year round and avoid purchasing them in BPA-lined cans.
Other than the amazing taste of the Hatch green chili, there area also some pretty great benefits. According to World’s Healthiest Food’s, chili peppers are linked to fighting inflammation, cardiovascular benefits, boosting the immune system, weight loss, clearing congestion and even lower the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. They also contain a substance, capsaicin, that provides natural pain relief and can be used topically to relieve osteoarthritis pain. (Read more here)
Ok, so that’s the good news. Here’s the crazy part. Green chilies are part of the nightshade plant family. Sometimes people with chronic inflammation and/or arthritis can be sensitive to nightshade plants and benefit from their removal in the diet. Does this mean you can’t enjoy Hatch green chilies? Not necessarily. If you suffer from chronic inflammation, the exclusion of nightshade plants is something worth exploring. If you don’t have any inflammation, you probably have nothing to worry about. (I used to avoid them when I suffered from fibromyalgia. Now that I am pain-free, I can enjoy them in moderation.)
If you are one of those fabulous people who buys Hatch green chilies by the box, head on over to Eat Your Beets to continue our blog circle and get another amazing recipe. You can also visit our Pinterest board to see all of the vegucation posts and click here to see what July’s vegucation was all about.
Egg Muffins with Hatch Green Chilies
makes 12 muffins
grain-free
Notes: I roasted my Hatch green chilies, but you don’t have to. The muffins will still be tasty if you don’t feel like roasting them.
Ingredients
12 eggs, preferably pastured (read more about pastured eggs here), lightly beaten
1/2 lb nitrate-free breakfast sausage (optional)
1/2 cup (4 oz) roasted green chilies (check out this article on how to roast your own chilies here), diced
1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, preferably grassfed, organic cheese, grated
2 T cilantro, finely chopped
1-2 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 t unrefined sea salt
1/4 t black pepper
Directions
(For directions to roast your own green chilies, see this article here.)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups.
Cook sausage over medium heat in a skillet until fully browned. Drain.
In a medium bowl, mix together the cooked breakfast sausage, roasted Hatch green chilies, grated cheese, cilantro, green onions, salt and pepper. Divide this mixture evenly by spooning it into the twelve, lined muffin cups. Set aside.
In a large bowl, lightly beat the twelve eggs. Pour the beaten eggs into the lined muffin cups (that already have cheese/veggie mixture) until about the cups are 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until the middle of the muffin is set and when a toothpick is inserted it comes out clean.
*Store leftover muffins in the fridge and reheat as needed.
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