Simple Recipes and Common Sense: Sweet Potato Fries

Hey Fellow Foodies and Readers,

Sorry I haven’t been around for a bit. Between Lollapalooza taking over my life and pretending to clean/pack for college, I’ve been a bit consumed. But! I’ve decided to drop a quick post to let you know I’ll have a great Lollapalooza feature soon; for now, I thought I’d leave you with a recipe.

I love sweet potatoes, mashed, chips, baked, and even in muffins! However, something I’ve been craving lately are sweet potato fries. So, I figured I’d experiment with a recipe/common sense to see if I could come up with a recipe that didn’t require the fries to be fried, but rather baked, you know, to at least attempt that healthy alternative!

I found a recipe in Cook’s Country for regular baked potato fries, a recipe online, and a recipe in a cookbook I own. After reading through each recipe, I decided to use a bit of each. This is a great recipe for all you Georgetowners and college students that want an easy recipe that tastes great and will satiate your craving for fried foods or sweets!

My family decided to grill burgers today. So as my mom and dad grilled, I baked up these fries. The overall result was a satisfactory, soft, sweet fry with a nice crisp. Next time, I may add more seasonings (paprika, garlic salt), and also let the fries dry a bit more before I coat them so that I get a more crispy texture, but overall, they were very tasty!

SO here you go!
3 Large Sweet Potatoes, washed, and thickly julienned (cut into spear shapes)
6 tablespoons of olive oil or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch (if you don’t have this, I don’t think it’s a huge deal, but let your potatoes dry a bit after microwaving/blotting)
Seasonings (optional: salt, pepper, garlic salt/powder, paprika)

-Preheat the over to 450 (f)
-Microwave sweet potatoes in large bowl covered with saran wrap for 4-6minutes to slightly cook,
-Remove the sliced potatoes from bowl and blot dry (gives fries a crispier texture), let sit for five minutes if you aren’t using cornstarch,
-As fries dry, use 5 tbsp of the oil to coat a cookie/baking sheet, then place sheet in oven for 5-7 minutes (until the sheet begins to smoke),
-While oil heats, mix remaining oil (1 tbsp) with cornstarch (optional) and, then toss fries in mixture, making sure to coat each, add seasonings,
-Place fries in single layer rows on the heated cookie sheet, place back in oven and cook for 25-35 minutes, flipping fries halfway through cooking time,
-Remove from oven and place fries on paper towels to blot excess oil, lightly salt if desired.
-Enjoy!