In the relentless long game of regular home cooking, I've found that few things lend interest to a dish quite like chiles. They're the spicy, fruity, bright, earthy edible glitter of life.
I'll save a treatise on dried chiles for another day. Today, I want to rhapsodize a little on the magic of fresh, roasted and pickled chiles. Lately, I've been stocking up on them en masse for days when cooking dinner feels especially insurmountable. Fresh sweet red and yellow bells; tangy Anaheims; fiery serranos; and mild, vegetal poblanos. Plus, frozen or canned roasted Hatch green chiles; pickled banana peppers and jalapeños; and jarred sweet piquillos or cherry peppers.
