For the Love of...: ...Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

There is nothing more addicting than sweet potato fries- the combination of sweet and salty makes them the perfect accompaniment to any meal.  Our little girl will be starting solids in a month and we are already thinking of ways to make meal time easier by cooking the same ingredients for us and our baby: roasted sweet potato mash for baby and fries for us.  In order to make the sweet potato fries extra crisp, the trick is to coat them in cornstarch before baking.  These fries are great dipped in ketchup or even mayo-sriracha for a little kick.

Ingredients: (Yields ~2 portions)

-1 large peeled sweet potato

-1.5 tbsp cornstarch

-Oil of your choice- vegetable, olive oil, or canola will do

-Coarse salt 

-Ground pepper

-Paprika 

*Optional: you can change up the flavours by adding herbs and other spices

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.  Start by cutting the peeled sweet potato into sticks. You can vary the thickness according to your tastes.  I prefer a thinner cut, approximately 1 cm thickness.

2. Soak the sweet potato sticks in water to get rid of the extra starch for a half hour.

3. Drain the water and pat dry using paper towels.  Try to get rid of as much moisture as possible.

4.  In a plastic bag, put in the cornstarch and the sweet potato sticks.  Shake the bag to evenly coat the sweet potato.  Try not to overdo the cornstarch, but if it does happen, use the edge of a spoon to scrape off the excess.  

5. Spread the sweet potato onto the lined baking tray.  Use another tray if you feel they are overcrowded- you want a single layer and space in between the sticks.

6.  Drizzle a generous amount of oil and sprinkle salt, ground pepper, paprika and any other spices you wish to add.  Adjust the amounts to your tastes.  

7.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  The bake time will vary depending on how thick your fries are.  Halfway through the bake time, turn the fries over so they don't burn on one side.  

8.  Place the fries on a paper towel to soak up excess oil.  Serve with your favourite condiment and enjoy!