The Daily Grind, Chop and Fry

The process of making these is pretty much identical to regular Baked Potato Fries, but they come out a little less crisp. The advantage of these, and the reason why they are being substituted for regular potato “un-fries” in the Spring lighten-up week, is that they have fewer calories but are higher in complex carbs, vitamin A, fiber and antioxidents. And believe it or not, there are differences, starting with nutritionally, between sweet potatoes and yams. Get sweet potatoes.

Unlike yams, which are regular in shape, sweet potatoes are kind of gnarled and have funky ends that will need to be trimmed off. In many photos of these fries, they look straight and all professional. Because of the irregularity of the vegetable, this creates an awful lot of waste. I am OK with fries that look imperfect – they did not cook as evenly, but that was fine with us. The rest of the peels and trimmings I threw into a pot and steamed for the dogs. (Contrary to popular belief, dogs love vegetables and fruit, and benefit from them. I add them to their regular food when I can.)

1 lb. dark orange or garnet sweet potatoes*
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp each cumin, oregano and coriander, or mixture of your favorite spices
1 tsp kosher salt
fresh ground pepper (about 10 turns of a pepper mill)

*After peeling, sliced and trimming.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet lightly with cooking spray.

Slice potatoes into french fry shape and size, about 1/4″ x 1/4″. If they are much bigger they will be soggy, much smaller they will be hard to flip.

Put potatoes in large bowl, sprinkle with salt, spices and pepper to taste, sprinkle on olive oil and toss to coat. Arrange in single layer on baking sheet. Use two trays if there is not enough room for the fries; give the fries enough room to cook evenly on all sides.

Ignore the nutrition grade of “D-” above. Look at the sodium count! There is some kind of mistake – just don’t use too much salt and you will be fine.
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