Make It Spicy

How hot is too hot? For some people, just a thin slice of serrano chile is enough to make them reach for a glass of water. Others are pouring on the hot sauce before the first bite. With over 50 easy-to-follow recipes from around the world, all with customizable heat levels and expert tips, Make it SPICY is your foolproof guide to spicy cooking.

These days, chiles and spices are found in almost every cuisine in the world, and with good reason: They add flavor, nuance, and, of course, heat and spiciness to foods. But more than that, they add depth and character like no other ingredients can. Whatever your desired heat preference, chiles and all their heat-toting brethren, like wasabi and mustard, are a great way to add flavor to meals. Your weeknight meals will become instantly easier when you switch from long marinating times to the instant flavor of spicy ingredients.

Mild Ease into the heat with two-chile deviled eggs, nachos with two cheeses, whole snapper with creole spices, red curry beef with Thai spices or mashed potatoes with wasabi and green onion.

Hot Take things up a notch with jalape o poppers, Vietnamese spring rolls, red chilaquiles with scrambled eggs, shakshouka, wasabi scallops, short ribs with ancho chile sauce.

Fiery Feeling fearless? Try the spicy crab salad, grilled eggplant with spicy chile sauce, jerk chicken, kimchi fried rice or a rack of lamb with harissa crust.

No matter how high you turn up the heat in your cooking, you'll enjoy these family-friendly recipes and more in Make it SPICY.

A graduate of Schoolcraft Culinary College, Amy worked as a pastry chef for almost a decade at some of the best restaurants in the country including Tribute, just outside Detroit; Mako in Beverly Hills; and Boulevard in San Francisco. She was the recipe editor at Sunset magazine, where she developed original recipes, wrote food-related stories, and contributed to Sunset’s cookbooks. Amy won a James Beard award in 2009 for her work on Sunset’s One-Block Diet blog and a Telly award in 2012 for a cooking video ＂The Fastest Way to Peel a Peach.＂