I think the day I made this dinner I was channeling my maternal grandmother who was born in La Coruña in the NW part of Spain. I know I was certainly thinking of her. People from that province eat a lot of fish and it’s always accompanied by potatoes (usually boiled).  I know. It was on the table a lot when I was as a child.

I recently wrote that potatoes were not a staple in the FOODalogue kitchen…but I’ve started to bring a few in every now and then. I find I have better portion control eating potatoes than I do eating pasta.

For example, this day when I had a beautiful fish (mackerel), I just knew it should be accompanied by potatoes. I could have boiled them like my Grandma would do or popped them in their jackets in the oven in a very traditional American way. But both seemed a little too conventional. Instead, I chopped them up tiny so they could crunch all over and roasted them with garlic, fresh carrots and peas. The fish was baked in the oven in a separate pan with a little olive oil, my new house seasoning, slivered garlic and lots of fresh lemon juice.

The fish skin crisped and the flesh was all lemony and garlicky. The potatoes were brown, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. And the peas and carrots were sweet.

A simple dish but delicious…and because there was color on the plate, it was appealing to look at. Sometimes you have to go back to your roots. And maybe just add a little twist.