Sweet Potato (Healthy-ish) Fries

Ah, Autumn is upon us and Holiday season will be here before we know it. What does this mean for our CSA? SWEET POTATOES! Sweet potatoes are something to which I have become accustomed since moving to the States. I never really encountered them in the UK other than their similar counterpart, the yam.

These fries are yummy. And healthier than if fried fries, if you get my meaning.
There are recipes for them all over the place. I came up with this one – forgive general measurements but it really is to suit your own taste:
1 extra large sweet potato, washed and eyes removed
1/2-1 Tbs garlic powder (to taste)
olive oil
salt & pepper
2 Tsp smoked paprika (To taste)

Cover a baking tray with parchment paper.
Cut the large sweet potato into fries – if you like them very crispy, cut them into more matchstick size, if you like them crispy but not close to blackened, cut them more into a french fry size. If you like them softer, cut them larger – but they will crisp up, too, if you bake them for longer.

Heat the oven to 450F (232C).
Put all the fries in a baggie, shake in the seasonings, pour in the olive oil- around a tablespoon or so. Zip up the bag and gently move the sweet potatoes until they are completely covered with seasonings and oil.

Empty bag out onto parchment paper-lined baking tray. Drizzle with a little extra oil if you think you need it. Space them out so they are not all smooshed together. Bake for about 20 minutes, turn over then bake for another 10. I took out the smaller fries at this point and drained them on kitchen paper, drizzled a small amount of olive oil on the remaining (fatter) fries and baked them for another 7 minutes. They came out lovely and crispy on the outside and soft and gooey in the middle.

Our kid loved these. Dipped them in hummus. Even my husband like them and he is not a sweet potato fan.