Jalapenos

Pickling watermelon rind has long been a Southern tradition. In this version, low-acid rice vinegar becomes infused with jalapeno and ginger for a brightly flavored brine with a kick. The watermelon rind is sliced very thin for these pickles, making them perfect for piling on a sandwich.

The jalapeño vinaigrette adds a touch of intense flavor to this pan-roasted halibut.

Gemelli, tightly wound coils of pasta, work especially well with chunky sauces like this one, which gets a spicy kick from chopped jalapeno.

When Adrian Harris & Jeremy Inglett, the Vancouver duo known as The Food Gays, set out testing margarita recipes, they asked themselves what makes a margarita really great. "Beyond enjoying them with friends while basking in plenty of sunshine, the answer was pretty obvious: fresh citrus, quality spirits, and a special complimentary flavor to mix things up. Add a nicely salted rim, and you've got yourself a great cocktail! It's all about that fine balance between sweet, sour and salty, so we thought, why not take it a bit further and throw some heat in the mix?"

F&W's Grace Parisi invented this smoky guacamole, then presented three ingenious ways to use it: in a soup, an hors d'oeuvre and a salad dressing.

Kick breakfast up a notch with this delicious take on a classic morning dish.

Jalapeno chiles give this easy chicken fajita recipe an extra kick. Feel free to scale up the amount of chiles depending on your comfort level.

These roasted (rather than deep-fried) buffalo-style chicken wings are smothered in a spicy green jalapeno sauce, which is pureed with pickled jalapenos for an extra hit of puckery flavor.

These quick-roasted fingerling potatoes couldn't be simpler to make, and they get a hit of spice from fresh sliced jalapenos.

Thin slices of lardo (Italian cured back fat) are the key to this luscious dish from Erik Anderson and Josh Habiger.

By roasting jalapenos before incorporating them into this silken puree, Jean-Georges Vongerichten gives the dish a subtle smokiness. Use sweet fresh peas if you can find them; frozen peas also work.