Sweet Potato Fries

Oh, hello, tasty and nutritious nosh. You health-conscious readers out there are not going to believe this, but did you know that a small bowl of sweet potato fries is only 90 calories?

But wait. This gets better. Just take a guess at how many calories there are in a large serving of traditional french fries.

Brace yourselves.

Approximately 600!!!

Yep, you heard it here. You can eat six whole bowls of sweet potato french fries and still consume fewer calories than if you eat just one bowl of regular french fries. You do the math.

My sweet potato fries are baked instead of fried but still pack tons of deliciousness with a surprising balance of savory and sweet (through using both salt and cinnamon to flavor them). I made a small batch for a late afternoon snack and sat happily on my couch munching away until my bowl was totally empty. I felt pretty sorry for my roommate and her boyfriend when they emerged from an afternoon siesta, proclaiming "Wow! What smells so good?!," and I had to tell them that all of the sweet potato fries were gone. Whoops.

Now that I have (hopefully!) convinced you on the merits of this snack, you need to know how to make them. Enough babble on my part.

To make 1-2 servings, you need:

-1 medium sized sweet potato (about the size of an adult fist)
-extra virgin olive oil
-salt
-cinnamon
-butter or butter spray (for greasing baking sheet)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Start by slicing your sweet potato in half and then do your best to slice the whole thing into 1/4 inch thick "logs." This does not need to be perfect by any means, but the fries will cook more evenly if all of the pieces are similar in shape and width.

Lightly grease a baking sheet with butter or butter spray, or, line with parchment paper. Spread your sweet potato pieces onto the baking sheet so none are overlapping. Drizzle with olive oil (about 2 tablespoons). Sprinkle generously with salt and cinnamon. I did not measure the salt and cinnamon, but if I had to estimate, I'd say it was about a heaping teaspoon of each. Bake in the oven for about 15-17 minutes, then remove the baking sheet and flip all of the pieces over. Re-sprinkle with salt and cinnamon and bake for another 15-17 minutes.

Remove from oven, transfer to plate or bowl and enjoy immediately. Fries should be fairly crisp and crunchy on the outside and softer on the inside.

HAPPY SNACKING!