Kale panini with pickled cherry peppers

The small, heart-shaped red peppers at the farmers market were adorable. I had to buy them, even though warned they were hot, and even though I hadn't a clue what to do with them. Googling yielded one basic plan: Pickle them.

These pickled gems have been patiently waiting in the back of my refrigerator since midsummer, so it was time to start using them.

Kale panini with pickled peppers

Adapted from Andrea Reusing; I believe from "Food52: Genius Recipes"

Ingredients

Kale leaves, torn into smallish pieces, about 2 big handfuls

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoons salt, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling bread

½ tablespoon red wine vinegar

10 ounces crumbled farmers cheese or queso blanco or feta

Pickled cherry peppers to taste, sliced and seeds discarded

8 slices sturdy bread

Method

Blanch kale leaves in boiling water to which ½ tablespoon salt has been added. Cook about 3 minutes or until tender. Drain well.

Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet. Saute garlic briefly. Toss in kale. Season with remaining salt to taste and saute briefly. Season with red wine vinegar.

Put sautéed kale on four of the bread slices. Top with crumbled cheese and pickled peppers to taste. (If you’re not sure, err on the side of less than one small pepper per sandwich. Top with remaining bread slices. Drizzle with olive oil and either heat in a panini press until browned and cheese is melted (or in a skillet, flipping once to brown on both sides and covering briefly to help melt the cheese).

Pickled peppers

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, March 2010

Ingredients

2 pounds hot cherry peppers

6 garlic cloves, halved

3 bay leaves

¾ teaspoon whole black peppercorns

4 cups white vinegar

1 1/3 cups water

¼ cup stugar

1½ teaspoons coarse salt

Method

Divide peppers, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns among sterilized jars (about 2 quart and 1 pint or some combo pack thereof).

In a medium saucepan, bring vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a simmer. Cook until sugar dissolves. Pour hot liquid over peppers, leaving a headspace (original recipe said ¼-inch) at the top. Seal jars and either can in a hot water bath for 15 minutes or let cool and then refrigerate.

Rating: Those pickled peppers definitely pack a punch, but they really punched up and prettied up a kale sandwich. It's essentially a grilled cheese sandwich with serious attitude. But while it's a far cry from the Velveeta-filled kind I savored as a child, these still count as comfort food, just the kind that mildly afflicts the comfortable.