Like my pal Kalyn I'm a big fan of sweet potatoes. And sweet potato fries. Kalyn's recipe has a different spice blend than mine but our recipes are quite similar. Check out hers if you don't happen to care for my particular spices. Or get down-and-dirty personal and make up your own signature concoction.
Cooking is all about making recipes your own. Developing your own tastes. Your likes and dislikes. Cooking is flexible. And highly personal. It's not precise like, say, brain surgery. Unless you're baking something fussy. Baking folks swear by precision. But I've never actually been that kind of cook. I'm intuitive. I fly by the seat of my jeans. I look at a glistening picture of pasta and vegetables and I feel inspired. I open my pantry and get juiced to play the What If? Game.
What if I take this ingredient and add it to that ingredient? I wonder. What would that taste like? Then the fun begins.
How do you cook?
Do you wing it like Chet Baker? Or do you prefer a road map, with precise direction?
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| Spicy sweet potato fries. Yes, please. |
Baked Sweet Potato Fries Recipe
Ingredients:
1 sweet potato per person
Light olive oil or organic canola oil, as needed
Seasoning: ground cumin, thyme, black pepper, red pepper, and cinnamon*
For serving:
Sea salt
Champagne or rice vinegar
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into long thin shoestrings. Toss them into a bowl and drizzle with light olive oil or organic Canola oil; stirring lightly to coat.
Generously season them. *My seasoning mix is equal shakes of: cumin, thyme and black pepper; and a little less of hot red pepper and cinnamon.
Throw them on to the parchment lined baking sheet. Spread evenly- one layer single layer is best.
Bake in the upper portion of your oven for about 20 to 25 minutes- until they are tender and sizzling and crispy brown at the edges. (Your oven times may vary from mine.)
Season with sea salt. (Add salt after they roast, to keep them from getting soggy.)
Serve with champagne vinegar at the table or scarf them down plain. They're tasty on their own.
Fabulous with:
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Warm Winter Slaw
Artichoke Savory Pie
Karina's Maple-Apricot Glazed Meatloaf
Balsamic Roasted Pepper Chicken








29 comments:
Yum! I like to bake my sweet potato fries, too. The seasoning changes each time I make them but I've never used thyme. It sounds great, so I'll give your flavor combination a try next time! Those gorgeous photos are making me hungry!
My cousin even has what she calls a What If Salad, it's all about adaptation.
I've never seen sweet potatoes look sooooo good! Mmmmm!
These sound really good. I like the combo of cumin, spicy red pepper and cinnamon. Baking works great for me not only to avoid the fat, which I also try to do, but also because clean up is sooooo much easier. These look great and with fall right around the corner, I'll have to give them a try!
Great photos! They sound so delicious. I never was a fan of sweet potatoes that much until I made sweet potato fries last year. (And don't let the produce man tell you that the orange ones are "yams" because there are no yams in the U.S. no matter what the sign says!)
Love the comment list. You're amazing me with all these cool things.
I haven't made sweet potato fries in forever, so thanks for the reminder. I love them with Creole seasoning--but then, I love everything with Creole seasoning!
Any tips or tricks for getting them crispy? I've never been able to accomplish that...
Love your combination of spices, especially the cinnamon. For me, it's all about the crunchy salt. Sweet potato fries are one of my passions!
I did something good with sweet potatoes recently as well:
http://ukcoeliac.blogspot.com/2008/06/rosemary-sweet-potato-wedges.html
These look amazing-- and I can't wait to try them this fall! Thanks for the comment at http://blogs1.marthastewart.com/dinnertonight -- looking forward to keeping in touch about all things on the foodie horizon!
Wanted to let you know I've made these twice now and they have become a family favorite with my two teen boys! The older one is a wrestler and only eats healthy stuff, won't eat fatty "regular fries" but LOVES these!
You mean you're supposed to eat sweet potato fries with something? Huh. I always thought they were a main course. ; )
Thanks, Everyone! Don't you just love an easy winter side dish like this? I could eat these till the cows come home to roost. Oh wait. Maybe that's chickens. xox
Amy, it's tough sometimes to get sweet potatoes to crisp up, it's true. I find parchment paper helps, not salting them before hand helps, and cooking them until you see browned edges (which is usually a bit longer than I might have expected). Luckily they're so tasty, even the less crispy critters get scarfed down in our house.
xox Karina
I like a road map, but I deviate from it frequently. :)
My sweet potato fries use peanut oil, cardamom and cinnamon. I like things a little sweet.
My husband loves sweet potatoes. If I make him these fries, I think he'd be very happy!
Nisrine
We love these fries! I love it whhen they get a little brown and crispy on the edges too. I llike to have a general idea on where I'm going with a recipe, but like to wander as I go. Sometimes you need to stop and smell (and taste) the roses.
Nothing better than sweet potato fries! What a great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Kim
I've been craving sweet potatoes & s.p. fries & looove the spicy / sweet contrast you came up with. Can't wait to try this! I'm such a fan of your blog - it never fails to brighten my day. :)
the only way to eat sweet potato fries is with curry ketchup, y'know..
I love sweet potatoes until reading your post, I'd forgotten that I have a great recipe that I created - kinda sweet, kind of spicy…..think I'll make them and blog about them tomorrow. Thanks for the inspiration Karina!!!
I've been craving yam fries for ages, but wasn't sure what to season them with. Definitely making these for lunch today!
Sweet potato fries are an absolute staple at our house. Though I usually just use olive oil and salt and bake them in the oven. So good. I hardly ever have leftovers with my three little ones eating them.
Mouth Watering. I LOVE yam fries to pieces...and crumbs too..
I love yam fries..so awesome.
First time I tried serving them with roasted chicken I was hooked!Delicious!
I think this is the way to finally get my kids to try sweet potatoes! I also like you suggestion of having them alongside a gf beer!
Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Angie.
HI Karina,
thanks for this wonderful tip about waiting to salt--it works well with both the sweet potatoes and yukon golds, too. And the vinegar is a great idea! I've tried both your spice combo and Kalyn's and now i am hooked on one or the other on one kind of potato or the other--they make an instant party out of lunch on a cold Winter day!
xo
moonwatcher
ps: forgot to add that I am fortunate enough to have some vinegar flavored with fresh nasturtiums from my garden last summer, and the mildly peppery flavor is just perfect for this use!
xo
moonwatcher
These are ABSOLUTELY amazing!!!!! I added a smidgen of all spice and broiled them for the last 10 minutes...yummy! Thank you!
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