A simple recipe to make healthy baked crispy sweet potato fries.
If there’s one thing that snacking, baking, and potatoes have in common, it’s these Simple Sweet Potato Fries! I LOVE french fries and I’ll be the first to order them when dining out with friends (especially at Burger Up here in Nashville). I’m sure you can guess, but being a Dietitian Nutritionist I’m often asked what my favorite cheat meals are, what I indulge in, etc. Although I never use the word “cheat,” I do use the words balance and flexibility. These two words are incredibly important in the NS lifestyle and in practicing balance with nourishing food, exercise, and mental/emotional wellbeing.
This recipe is the simplest version of a healthy sweet potato fry there is. Just slice em’, bake em’, eat em’. First things first, I’m not bringing anything new and innovative to the table with baking potatoes and slicing them into the shape of a french fry, but it’s a nice reminder that there’s a healthier alternative to our beloved US snack and splurge of choice. Also, this Turmeric Tahini Dip is on another level – that I will say. Sweet potatoes, like carrots and other orange-colored fruits and vegetables, contain beta-carotene which gets converted into vitamin A in our body. Vitamin A is important for hair, skin, nails, vision, and plays a key role in immune function.
You can also use gold or red potatoes in this recipe. I don’t discriminate between these potatoes, and I don’t think “white” potatoes by themselves are unhealthy. It’s only when they’re deep fried in omega-6 oils and then doused with table salt that they become unhealthy. Sweet potatoes are also a better choice over regular white potatoes, in my opinion, simply for their taste! These sweet potato fries are barely a recipe, meaning they’re SO simple I hesitate to use the word recipe…I had to share one of my favorite dips to use with these and about 1,787 other things! I love the flavor combination of bitter, nutty, and salty tahini with the sweetness of these potatoes – it tastes sublime. The tahini dip came to me as I was making these, since I wanted to photograph them with a dip and thought this combination would be amazing…and it was, it is.
A tip when storing any leftovers with this recipe – I will let the sweet potato fries completely cool and store them in an airtight glass container, then when I’m ready to eat them I’ll pop them in the toaster oven at 425 degrees F again and “toast” them making them firm again with a little crisp. Otherwise, I’ve been known to take them out of the container, eat em’ cold with this dip and still enjoy them just the same. Another fun thing I do with these, put them on top of a huge salad…BALANCE you guys, balance.
Try em’
I hope you give this one a go! Leave a comment and rate it, rating helps me continue to improve recipes for you. I love seeing what you come up with so don’t forget to take a picture and tag it #nutritionstripped on Instagram!
