Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Cilantro Sauce

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables, and sweet potato fries are one of my favorite foods. But who wants to deal with all of that deep frying? What if you could harness the deliciousness and nutritiousness of the sweet potato in a healthier, BAKED sweet potato fry?!?! Well my friends, no more "what ifs." The baked sweet potato fry is here to stay.

Preheat an oven to 450°. Scrub two sweet potatoes clean, but leave the skin on.

 Cut the potatoes into strips.

 Spray a pan with cooking spray, then spread the sweet potato fries evenly in the pan. Make sure they aren't too crowded, or they won't get crispy. Spray the potatoes with cooking spray, and sprinkle them with salt.

Pop them in the oven for 15 minutes. In the mean time, make your delicious cilantro sauce. 

In a food processor, place 1 bunch of cilantro, 3 cloves roasted garlic, 1 raw clove of garlic (if you don't mind what it does to your breath!), the juice of 1 lemon, 1 tsp cumin, and salt to taste.

 Pulse until the ingredients are finely chopped.

 Then, with the food processor running, slowly drizzle in 1/3-1/2 cup Olive Oil, or until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.

Don't forget about the fries! After fifteen minutes, flip the fries over and cook for another 15 minutes. They should be browned in places, slightly poofy, and crisp on the outside.

AWwwwwww yeah. I served them with some curried tzatziki sauce that I had on hand...

...and the tangy, herbaceous cilantro sauce complemented the sweet potato fries so well that I ended up just drizzling the sauce on the fries and eating them that way.

Bon appetit! 

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes, cleaned

cooking spray

salt

1. Preheat oven to 450°

2. Cut sweet potatoes into thick fries.

3. Coat a roasting pan in cooking spray, then arrange sweet potatoes evenly, leaving space between each fry.

4. Coat the sweet potatoes in cooking spray, then sprinkle liberally with salt.

5. Place in oven and cook for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through, until fries are browned in places and crispy on the outside.

Cilantro Sauce

Ingredients

1 bunch of cilantro 

3 cloves roasted garlic 

1 raw clove of garlic

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp cumin

salt

1/3-1/2 cup Olive Oil 

1. In a food processor, pulse all ingredients except olive oil until finely chopped.

2. With food processor running, slowly stream in 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil, or until desired consistency is reached.

3. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.