Sweet Potato Fries? No Worries...

It's Monday morning, and I always feel uninspired on Monday mornings, until I start looking at my food pictures from the week before and then the ideas start cooking. Lots of times when I go to the grocery store, that's when the ideas start cooking, too, and I'll have to make myself a list of all the fun things I want to try so I don't forget them during the week. (That has happened WAY too many times, if you're wondering.) One thing that's been on my list for a while now are Sweet Potato Fries. It seems like everywhere I've eaten lately has Sweet Potato Fries on the menu. Okay, maybe only two places, but still, they're getting more popular.

The problem with ordering Sweet Potato Fries at a restaurant is that you are never sure about cross contamination, and at some places I'm sure about the cross contamination because my server told me that they used the same oil to make the fries as they used to fry the battered onion rings. So sad. And baking is so much better for you anyway, so I thought I'd give it a try. Cheers to Giada de Laurentiis for inspiring me to make these. She makes everything look so easy. Her version is much more Italian, mine is much more housewifey.

I took three sweet potatoes, cut the ends off, cut them into steak fries, and scattered them on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil for quick clean up. Then I drizzled them with about 1/4 cup of olive oil and 2 tsp kosher salt.

I roasted the pan in the oven for 45 minutes at 425 degrees, until they were nice and browned and the potatoes were soft inside. Then I made a quick dipping sauce with 1/3 cup light mayonnaise, 1 tsp Tamari sauce (wheat free soy sauce from San-J), 1/2 tsp chili powder, and 1/2 tsp garlic salt and served it alongside my salmon. By the way, my salmon will be the first edition of my "Fish on Fridays" series for the next four weeks. You may know by now that I never cook fish and I want to try to break that habit and learn how to incorporate this into my menus. I hope it turns out delicious, or as delicious as a novice fish cooker can make it.

That's it! They basically cook themselves and Sweet Potato Fries are a great way to change up your summer menus. Plus, doesn't it seem like they talk about sweet potatoes being better for you on the Biggest Loser or something? Maybe I made that up, but they sure SEEM healthier.

Also, my Gluten Free Lemon Poppyseed Muffins will be a featured blog post over at Foodista tomorrow, so check it out!

Happy eating!