Spanish Tortilla with Mushrooms and Kale

I looked in my fridge and found I had eggs, kale, mushrooms and potatoes and was in the mood to make something really yummy on a weekend morning. Viola – my very first Spanish Tortilla!

When we were in Spain a few years ago, this dish was a tapas favorite and I loved the comfort of it! The great thing about this dish is that it can be eaten hot or at room temperature – so you can make it ahead of time. I didn’t have fresh thyme so just used the dried version. I’m sure you can substitute it with any other herb. I found a really easy recipe by Florence Fabricant in the NYT, one that I will be using over and over again. The tricky part of this dish is flipping it over and making sure nothing sticks to the pan – using a nonstick pan will help with that!

 

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes w/ Mushrooms

This dish is pure comfort food which goes really well with anything really – we had it with steak but it would go just as well with a salad or fish. Its super easy and super tasty.

A Very Veggie Potato Salad

This is one of favorite potato salad recipes. My mother in law Atsuko used to make it often and I loved how many vegetables she would put in it.

You can add any of your favorite veggies but having tons of cucumbers and onions sliced really thin on a mandolin really gives this salad a delicious touch.

 

Luchi Aloo ( Kolkata’s version of Puri Aloo )

Luchi aloo is Kolkata’s version of Puri Aloo but it’s so much better especially if you eat it on the streets. There’s nothing like a piping hot luchi, smothered with spicy curried aloo. Here’s a great homemade version of this recipe.

 

 

Stir Fried Masala Parwal and Aloo (Pointed Gourd with Potatoes)

Parwal is a green vegetable that is indigenous to the Eastern part of India. It is also called pointed gourd or potol. It looks a little like tori/zucchini but has different flavoring and texture. Here is how we cook this vegetable in my mother’s kitchen.

 

Manju’s Nepalese Aloo ka Jhol (Spicy Potato Curry)

I love tangy curries which have a nice spicy kick to them. This simple Nepalese potato curry has such a wonderful flavoring with the flavors of mustard oil and yogurt.

If you can’t get mustard oil – its okay – though they are available at any Indian Grocery store. This recipe is so great it will work with just about any oil you use.

 

 

Herb Roasted Potatoes

One of the easiest ways of cooking potatoes is roasting them. All you do is slather them with some kind of flavoring, put them in an oven and voila – you have a delicious side dish to go with any meal.

I always have some kind of pesto handy in my fridge – my favorite one being a parsley pesto. You can use a store bought one or click on this link to use my recipe.

I prefer to roast the potatoes a little longer as I like them crispy but you can adjust this recipe to your taste.

 

Shepherd’s Pie

This might be one of my family’s favorite dishes of comfort right now! I love this recipe I found courtesy Alton Brown and ofcourse I always add in my own little tidbits to any recipe.

In this case I just added a whole bunch of baby spinach leaves to the meat filling and it was delish!

 

 

Aloo Paratha (Potato)

I just love parathas – but then again who doesn’t.

A paratha is an Indian flat bread which can be stuffed with just about any filling. The most popular is Aloo (potato) but it can range from anything from ground meat (keema) to mixed combination of vegetables. My favorite parathas are made in my mother’s kitchen.

 I love my parathas stuffed with a combination of cauliflower and radish (Gobhi/Moolee).

 A paratha is a meal in itself. I love to eat it with homemade mango pickle and yogurt.

 Here is the recipe for the most popular “Aloo Paratha”.

 

Shanti’s Spicy Potatoes

Potatoes are a classic Indian comfort food. Here is the way that Shanti makes her yummy spicy potates.