Spiced & Baked Sweet Potato Fries

(4 servings)

Sweet potatoes are in season in Texas at the moment so a grabbed a few to make these delicious baked fries. It took me less than 10 minutes to wash, peel, cut and season these tasty tubers. The difficult part was waiting for them while they were in the oven, the aroma they gave off set off hunger pangs something fierce!

You can keep this tasty side dish simple by seasoning them with just salt and pepper, or you can try any combination of spices you like. I have made a few different versions of these fries, and they have been "oh, so good!", every single time.

sweet potato fries
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, pressed or minced
2-3 sweet potatoes, about 1 1/2 lbs
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
a few pinches cayenne

quick ketchup 
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp water
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp mustard

Combine the olive oil and garlic, then set aside while you prepare the potatoes.

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Wash, peel and cut the sweet potatoes into sticks that are about 1/3 of an inch thick. You may cut them larger or smaller if you prefer, but you might have to adjust the baking time.

Place the potatoes into a bowl. Pour the oil and garlic mixture over the sweet potatoes and toss until evenly coated.

Stir together the paprika, cumin, pepper, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the sweet potatoes, and toss again until the spice mixture is evenly distributed among the fries.

Place the potatoes onto a lightly oiled baking sheet in a single layer, trying not too crowd them too much.

Bake them for about 20 minutes, remove them from the oven and quickly flip them over. Bake them further for another 10-15 minutes or until they are crispy on the outside.

Combine all the ingredients for the ketchup and serve with the sweet potato fries.