Three words: Sweet. Potato. Fries.

Sweet potatoes are one of life’s little gifts, they’re just as good on the taste buds as they are on the nutrition chart.  We typically think of sweet potatoes around Thanksgiving time, but these puppies deserve our attention all year round.  In fact, the sweet potato was actually deemed the number ONE most nutritious vegetable by the CSPI (Center for Science in the Public.)  Sweet potatoes are packed with antioxidants, (especially beta-carotene) calcium, folate, potassium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and they have more fiber per serving than oatmeal (eat that skin!)

I can’t get enough of this plant-based superfood.  Sweet potatoes are easy, cheap, healthy, and sweeeeeeeeet!  What’s better than sweet potatoes?!  SWEET POTATO FRIES!  Fries are typically pretty unhealthy, but not if they’re homemade, the right way!  These sweet fries are roasted, not fried, and the fat provided by the olive oil actually allows more of the beta-carotene goodness to be absorbed in the body.

Ingredients:

• sweet potatoes
• olive oil
• rosemary

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  For single portion, use one medium sweet potato.  Double for double, triple for triple…you catch my drift, you’re pretty smart.

I have a little trick to soften the potatoes a little bit before I cut.  I cut the ends off, pierce potato a few times with a fork or knife, and pop into the microwave for a few minutes.  If you’re microwave-phobic, skip this step, you will just have to use more arm muscle and patience.

Cut sweet potatoes to your liking.  Sometimes I cut into round slices, sometimes I cut into strips for a classic French fry shape.  It totally depends on your preference, if you like boat-shaped fries, go for it.  Some people out there are really talented and can make that waffle fry shape (go ahead, show-offs.)  For me, the thinner the slice, the crunchier the fries, the happier I am.  Also, always keep the skin on because it’s the most nutritious part of the potato…and it makes for much less prep work.

Place potato slices/fries/boats/waffles on cookie sheet (I line with parchment paper so they don’t stick, feel free to use tinfoil or cooking spray.  This doesn’t count as an ingredient because then there would be four ingredients, not three, and we’re sticking to three.)

Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on sweet potato slices/fries/boats/waffles.  To avoid overdoing the oil, pour it onto a spoon and drizzle slowly.  That way, you can measure how much you use.

Sprinkle with rosemary, (fresh or dried, whatever you have) pop in the oven and wait.  I know it’s hard to wait for something so delicious, so find a short activity to do that will distract you.  Fries usually take about 30 minutes, depending on your oven and whether or not you nuked ‘em.   If you didn’t, congratulations, you just completed your upper body workout of the day and killed two birds with one stone.

If you prefer ultra-crispy fries, you can flip fries and turn on boiler for a minute at the end.  (If you like a little less crispy, I don’t recommend this step.)  Let cool.  Serve.  Hold the ketchup, hold the salt, these fries taste perfect on their own.  (Unless you really like ketchup and salt, then be my guest.)

One Healthy Breakdown: They’re not called sweet for nothing!

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