Potato Salad

Day # 4 Blogging Marathon
Potato salad, boiled potatoes combined with herbs in a mayonnaise base. The potato salad is a real quickie and a good choice for when you have a large group to cater to. It goes extremely well with grilled chicken, as a side with burgers or a with pasta and garlic bread to make a complete meal. The potato salad is indeed a great time saver and best for when you do not want to spend the entire day in the kitchen. There are several variations to the basic potato salad and you can be really creative with it adding in bacon, sausages, tomatoes, pickled vegetables or even fruits like the apple. A delicious quick recipe that can add a nice twist to your everyday menu.

Ingredients for the potato salad:
Boiled potatoes - 1 cup
Mayonnaise - 2 tbsp
Spring onions - 2 tbsp
Celery - 1 tbsp
Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp(you could even grate some fresh garlic instead)
Paprika - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method for making the potato salad:
1- Peel and cut the potato into bite sized cubes. Cook them in the microwave with a little water for approximately 10 minutes or till done. (If you boil the potatoes and then cut it your salad would turn out to be of a slightly pasty consistehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifncy so it would be best to cube them and then cook). If you do not have a microwave, cook in a vessel with a little water.
2- Let the potatoes cool. Now, take a big mixing bowl and add in the potatoes. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix. Garnish with 1/2 a tsp of chopped spring onions just before serving. Serve cold.
Note:
1-If you like a minty flavour, you may add in 1/2 a tsp of mint too alongwith the other ingredients.
2- For those on a diet, substitute 1 tbsp or the entire mayonnaise with hung curd.
Sending this to the Deceptively Delicious Event.
Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Potato capsicum stir fry(subzi)

This potato-capsicum(shimla mirch/bell peppers)stir fry is a quick and easy one from the Indian cuisine. This is one dish that I make atleast once a week. Now with the bell peppers in season, this is a simple and easy easy with the popular potatoes and capsicum combined with a dash of cummin seeds and flavored with curry leaves.

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 2 (medium sized, cut into small pieces)
Capsicum/ Bell Peppers/ Shimla Mirch - 1 (big)
Onions - 2 (cut into thin long slices)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cummin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves 8 to 10
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup

Method:
1- Take a pan and add in the oil. Now add the cummin seeds and when they turn golden add the chopped onions.
2- Saute the onions till they turn soft and slightly golden in color. Now add the potatoes, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well. Add the water and cover and cook on low flame for approximately 5-7 minutes, stir occasionally. Add in the curry leaves too.
3- Open and stir and saute and let cook till the potatoes turn golden brown. Garnish with a few fresh curry leaves.

Serve with - Roti or Rice