Potato

Carrots, parsnips, green onions and dill make the difference in these colorful pancakes. Mix some chopped dill and green onions into sour cream to pass alongside.

If you plan on preparing this side dish the day before serving, reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid and add it to the puree when reheating it.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Makes use of the microwave oven.

Many heartland cooks claim that parsnips give standard mashed potatoes a hint of sweetness. If you use the parsley root, mince the tops and add them to the dish when the instructions call for minced fresh parsley.

This classic Spanish egg-and-potato dish is similar to frittata. Team the tortilla with a green salad for a terrific brunch or lunch.

The primary difference between this kugel recipe and the traditional is its use of dairy, which would make it inappropriate at a meal with meat on the menu for those who observe kosher dietary laws.

A quick low-fat, no-cholesterol side dish.

A touch of cardamom lends subtle spice to these innovative crescent-shaped rolls.

There must be as many versions of this—Ireland's national dish—as there are cooks. One thing all recipes should say is that the stew is to be cooked slowly until the lamb is meltingly tender. This stew is the ideal dish to return to after a day in the open air, as it can be made ahead and reheated while cook and guests enjoy the hot punch.

The microwave makes this dish a snap to prepare.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less

Made with a mixture of cooked and raw potatoes, boxty was created as a way to use a few readily available ingredients to produce different results. It can take shape as bread, pancakes or dumplings. The recipe has been popular for so long that one traditional rhyming song goes, "Boxty on the griddle, boxty on the pan; if you can't make boxty, you'll never get a man." The households that didn't have a store-bought grater improvised by using nails to punch grating holes into a box or flattened tin can. Boxty is most often made as a griddle bread, served with bacon and eggs for a special breakfast treat.