Capsicum is the common name for pepper in many parts of the world. Peppers come in colours ranging from white to almost black and the red ones are simply ripe green ones. Peppers are native to North America, where the discovery of chillies was some compensation to Columbus for his failure to find the black pepper, which he was looking. Peppers are a great low calorie vegetable and can be used freely on all of the diets. They are a relatively inexpensive food and are great during the summer.

Try these pepper ideas:

Roast lamb with peppers
The sweetness of peppers has a particular affinity for roast lamb. To make this dish which works well with lamb; heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan and sweat 1 chopped onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves for a few minutes. Add 8 red and yellow peppers, peeled and cut into strips, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add 900g/2lb beefsteak tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped, some seasoning and 2 tsp balsamic vinegar. Simmer over a very low heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Roasted peppers
To roast and skin peppers, cook them on the grid of a grill pan in a very hot oven for 15-20 mins. Remove them from the oven, wrap up in a polythene bag and leave to cool. Peel away all of the skin and deseed, making sure you reserve any juices for the dressing.

Pepper soup
To make a roasted red pepper soup, sweat 1 chopped onion, 1/2 tsp chopped red chilli, 1 sliced carrot and 1 sliced celery heart in a little olive oil for 10 mins. Add 450g/1lb chopped tomatoes, 900g/2lb peppers roasted as above, 1/2 pint vegetable stock and some seasoning, and simmer for 20 mins. Liquidise and pass through a sieve. Serve with low fat creme fraiche and chopped coriander.

Spicy pesto
For a spicy spin on pesto, roast and skin 3 red peppers and 1 red chilli as above. Place 2 peeled garlic cloves, 25g/1oz basil leaves and 60g/2oz roasted hazelnuts in a food processor and reduce to a paste.
Add 1 tbsp olive oil, the roasted peppers, 1/2tsp of the chilli flesh and some salt and freshly ground black pepper and process to a smooth sauce. Serve with fresh pasta. (Count 360 calories for 2oz hazlenuts or reduce to 1oz?)

Honey peppers
Fill 3 halved and seeded red or orange peppers with 350g/12oz halved cherry tomatoes. Place them on a baking tray, drizzle over 3 teaspoons runny honey and a little olive oil and season. Bake in a very hot oven for 20-30 mins. Serve warm or at room temperature scattered with coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley. (Count 30 calories per rounded teaspoon of honey)

Pepper salsa
To make a red pepper salsa to serve with barbecued chicken or grilled fish, combine 2 skinned, seeded and diced
beefsteak tomatoes and red peppers (peeled with a potato peeler), the juice of 1 lime, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2
finely chopped red onion, 1 level tsp finely chopped red chilli, 2 heaped tsp chopped coriander and some
sea salt.

Crudities (raw vegetables)
Prepare a selection of crudités, including a mixture of red, yellow and orange peppers cut into strips. Serve with radishes, cherry tomatoes and slivers of fennel.