Okay People, lets be real here! We have to allow our selves to indulge in some “cheat” meals once and a while, but a cheat meal doesn’t have to be the worst thing you could possibly eat. I love fries and I know many others do too. Well, frying fries and what they are fried in makes them so much worse. Also, obviously consuming large quantities whether healthier or not isn’t good because they are a starchy food. I would say that its okay to have fries once and a while and I tend to feel much better knowing this is a much healthier version than going out and getting “fried” fries. Again I am not saying you should eat these everyday either!
Now lets talk a little about baking fries…there are so many recipes out there for baked fries and really they are probably all delicious, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered the absolute best way to make baked fries! They turn out nice and soft on the inside and you can let them get a little crispy on the outside too without getting totally burned. I’ve made baked fries plenty of times before but never have they turned out so great until I learned this technique. So what is this awesome secret? Well…. you just BOIL them before putting them in the oven 🙂 Yup! That simple. Well, Okay there is a little more to it than just that. I will explain below. This technique would also work if you did baked potatoes too. I recently made these at my daughters birthday party and they were a hit. I also love them even more with the delicious “garlic sauce” to dip them in.
I rarely if ever use dried garlic and dried onion and opt for fresh but they went very well with the fries and I couldn’t pass that up
Cut your potatoes to your desired size
Dump them in boiling water
Allow them to sit in the water for no longer than 2-3 minutes…at 3 minutes your pushing it!
Drain well
Pour a small amount of Olive oil on the fries and mix well
Sprinkle with Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Garlic, and Onion
Then Place them in the Oven
While they are in the oven chop up some fresh parsley
You can make the Garlic Sauce before the fries or during (preferably not after since you will want to eat those delicious fries right away!)
Separate 2 Garlic bulbs into cloves without removing the skin
Bake them in the oven for about 20 Minutes (we don’t want them to burn) They key is to have soft garlic
Place the garlic in the bowl and Mash with a fork
Keep mashing until you get as close to a smooth texture as possible (a mortar and pestle would be very handy) Come to think of it
I don’t know why I didn’t think to use mine until now!
Mix the garlic “paste” with the yogurt (and if you wish you can add 2-3 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise)
Add in Your spices and stir together.
- Fries
- -4 Russet Potatoes (sweet potatoes would be an even healthier choice)
- -Large Handful of Parsley
- -Olive Oil
- -Salt
- -Pepper
- -Ground Garlic or Finely Chopped Fresh
- -Ground Onion or Finely Chopped Fresh
- -Ground Paprika
- Garlic Sauce
- -2 Fresh Garlic Bulbs
- -3/4-1 Cup Greek Yogurt
- -Salt
- -Pepper
- -Olive Oil
- -2-3 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise (if desired) It gives the garlic sauce more flavor
- Fries
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees and bring a large pot of water to a boil
- Wash and cut up your potatoes into desired size
- Once water is boiling, place the potatoes in the pot for 2 minutes and no longer than 3. (The water usually isn't boiling again by the time I take them out) Place them in a bowl to drain (I used my salad spinner to somewhat dry them off)
- When the potatoes are close to dry, drizzle a small amount of olive oil over them (probably about 2 Tablespoons) and mix together
- Lay out a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and evenly spread out the fries
- Sprinkle the salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, and onions over the fries
- Place them in the oven for 30-40 minutes depending on your oven. Pay attention to them and when they start to slightly brown around the edges they are ready to eat. You can allow them to bake a bit longer too if you wish to have more crispy fries
- While they are in the oven finely chop up the fresh parsley
- Once you pull the fries out of the oven you can sprinkle the parsley over them and serve
- Garlic Sauce
- Separate the garlic cloves from the bulb without removing the skin
- Lay out the garlic on a baking sheet and place them in the oven for about 20 minutes (you want the garlic to be soft)
- When you remove them from the oven allow them to cool enough to handle, and remove the skins
- Place the garlic cloves in a bowl and using a fork or mortar and pestle mash them until you get a paste like consistency (adding a teaspoon of olive oil will help the process)
- Add in the yogurt and mayonnaise if desired , and spices. mix together
- Serve immediately
- www.sproutinghealthyhabits.com