NIMO.: EAT.

Hello and welcome to a new section of the blog. Food.

I've seen so many nice blogs featuring pretty food that I somehow felt compelled to have a small section for food as well. Who would have guessed? Don't get me wrong: I love food. I would even say I love it too much. But I've never had a "thing" for cooking. Or anything too housewifey, for that matter.

But I thought it would be nice to have a small section devoted to food, preparing quick and easy meals and sharing our quest to eat healthy and fresh while trying to shed some of the side effects of being a food (especially sweets) lover, before summer comes around and I can no longer get away with hiding under layers of clothes.

What better way to start this section than with a typical spanish dish everybody likes? And I truly mean everybody. One of the things I have learned to really appreciate about spanish food, once I had already moved to Los Angeles, is its simplicity. The key is freshness. A couple ingredients paired with olive oil, salt and a little black pepper. That's it.

So without further ado: Tortilla Española.

Don't let the name fool you - tortilla in Spain has absolutely nothing to do with tortilla in Mexico. In fact, this dish is like a potato cake/pie.

What I love about it is not only its simplicity - all you need are potatoes, olive oil, eggs, salt and onions - but its versatility: you can have it hot (by itself or with ketchup)or cold (it's a perfect party platter cut up into little squares) or even cold on a sandwich. You can also add zucchini (like my mom) or even pumpkin (like my father in law). My favorite is (hot or cold) tortilla by itself, with a tomato salad on the side. Yum!

As it's almost always the case with "typical" regional food, every household has it's own secret (or not so secret) way of preparing tortilla, and trust me: everybody will tell you their way is the best!

Funny enough I learned to make tortilla in the US, probably because back home it's always available everywhere and I never felt the need to venture into preparing one myself.

{My recipe is a mix of info I got online and tips and tricks I learned from other spaniards}

So here come the ingredients:

4-5 medium sized potatoes

4-5 eggs

1 cup of olive oil

1 handful of chopped onions

salt to taste

Step by step Instructions:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into uneven slices (the thickness you're going for is approx 1/4 inch)

2. Chop a handful of onions

3. Pour the cup of olive oil into a pan (try to choose one that's not too heavy)

4. Once the oil is warm, add potatoes, onions and some salt and cook till the potatoes are done but still firm

5. Get everything out of the pan and into a colander, drain [and save] all the olive oil (now would be a great time to prepare a side salad)

6. Once the potatoes are as oil free as possible, beat the eggs. The key to how many eggs you need is to put the potatoes in a large bowl, then add the eggs. Beaten eggs should fill all the spaces between the potatoes, covering everything lightly.

7. Put 1-2 tablespoons of the saved olive oil back into the pan. Heat it up and add the potatoe egg mix. Make it as even and flat as possible and cook it on medium heat until the egg part solidifies a little.

8. Cover the pan with a plate or lid. Take one deep breath (I was scared to death when I did this the first time!) and flip the pan over. Now you're holding the tortilla on the plate and have an empty pan.

9. Repeat step 7 for the other side of the tortilla. (Just slide it back into the pan after adding more oil).

10. Ready! Flip the tortilla back onto a clean plate, cut it up and eat it!