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Find Comfort By Feeding the Fire in Your Belly

Keep calm and chile on

Published November 7, 2022

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Chipotle-Tuna Quesadillas. Photo: Kerri Conan

Even though it seems counterintuitive, the heat of warm spices and chiles have well-known cooling effects in hot weather. So instead of seeking balm beneath a potato masher, why not mitigate the anxiety and uncertainty of the midterm election with dinners that measure power in Scoville units?

Lots of Bittman Project recipes include chiles, but this week I’ve got four dishes that hinge on heat. Each features peppers in a different form—canned chipotle in adobo, harissa, dried chiles, and the ubiquitous crushed red pepper — and range from vegan to beefy. You decide the intensity. Along the way, there are lots of tips on how to customize and vary for any time you’re fired up and want to keep cool.

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