Eggs for me.
If we’re talking non meat then onion, spinach, pumpkin, tofu and taro.
Garlic and cilantro (or Kulantro … if your a genetic freak…) come before peppers for me.
But peppers find their way in most my cooking. I use vodka or gin (or any neutral-ish booze) to soak the peppers and extract the capsaicin. this gives you better control of the capsaicin content relative to everything else (including all the amazing flavors in the peppers themselves.)
Also makes for a moment of hilarity when your brother’s in laws are over and decide to raid your liquor cabinet for a vesper. (Which… even Ian Fleming thought was god awful)
Cilantro is interesting because to me it doesn’t really taste like anything, but in a dish where I’m used to seeing it on top it just feels so wrong when it’s not there.