Experiment with Sriracha, harissa, chipotle and exotic peppers in menu items from appetizers to entrées, from spreads to salads.

One approach is to reimagine the classic comfort foods of meatloaf and meatballs with new hot and spicy flavor profiles. Meatballs can be made with almost any ground meat, seafood, poultry, vegetables, grains or beans.

• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce add a smoky flavor, as well as heat, to the ground-meat mixture and/or the sauce.
• Spice up meatballs by mixing in Sriracha or Korean gochujang, a fermented red chili paste.
• Make chorizo meatballs with roasted tomatoes, celery heart, onion, saffron and pecorino cheese.
• Try a Korean barbecue meatloaf sandwich with Sriracha mayonnaise and kimchi.

Jazz up tuna sandwiches by spiking your tuna mixture with dried cranberries and a dash of sambal oelek, a spicy ground-chile sauce that is a staple in Malaysian and Thai cooking.