Roasted, toasted and made on a rack

Photo Credit: Photos By Len Spoden For The Washington Post

As someone with perpetually burnt fingers, I have to give props to whomever thought of roasting peppers on a cake rack. Or maybe a dish drying rack, I don't know. What I do know is that these little charred veggies are a cheap, bad ass way to make almost any dish look and taste more impressive...and with so little effort. Just stick them over a flame and turn when the skin gets black and crinkly looking. Resting the pepper on the rack, well, that's pure utilitarian genius ( like using the cutouts on the spatula to make designs with powdered sugar on cupcakes- which takes the confidence of a real man I might add).