Love Live Balance: Sweet Potato Fries

I don't know how this was ever possible but I used to hate sweet potatoes. I mean I wouldn't even touch them let alone try and eat them. Luckily, it was just one of those things that you hated as a kid but grew out of it and found you liked it when you were older. Same goes for peas, pierogies, pepperoni, beans, fish, but not shrimp. No. To this day shrimp is basically the only food I will not eat. I'm up for trying anything once to see if I'd like it but I draw the line at shrimp. It's one thing I will never, ever, ever, EVER like. I'm not going to get into any details but it might have to do with the fact that my dad forced me to eat it until I was about 15 years old even though I kept telling him I didn't like it.

Anyway, back to my evolved love of sweet potatoes. I don't know when it happened but I decided to give sweet potatoes another shot even though I had sworn them off and thank goodness I did because I love 'em! The best part? They're packed with so many nutrients compared to regular potatoes. I don't think I can go back to regular potatoes and don't mind one bit!

Naturally I began exploring more recipes with sweet potatoes and always wanted to give fries a try. I had some at a restaurant once and fell even more in love with these magical little potatoes. Unfortunately, most like my experience with black-bean brownies, I could never seem to get the recipe right. Then I found this one where you had to soak the fries before cooking them and it made all the difference! I'm gonna be honest I don't really know what the soaking does so if you do then feel free to leave a comment explaining. All I know is that once we started soaking the fries before baking them, they turned out 100 times better! My sister and I make these fries all the time, especially since a bag of sweet potatoes is only $2 at Trader Joe's!

So, now to the important part: how to make them! First you'll need...

3-4 medium sweet potatoes
1 tbsp oil (I used olive oil)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

You can pretty much add whatever spices you want and can put more/less depending on your personal preferences. I recommend using the salt and pepper but go ahead and change up the other spices if you want! I've seen recipes using cayenne pepper, cumin, or even cinnamon and nutmeg for sweet rather than savory.

1. preheat the oven to 450

2. slice up the potatoes. I made mine thicker like steak fries but you can make them as thin or thick as you like! Steak fries are my preference plus there's less fries to cut which saves me time :)

3. let the fries soak in cold water for about 30-60 minutes. I'm impatient and only soaked them for 30 and they turned out fine.

4. This next part you can do one of two ways. You can either put the fries and the oil and spices all in a ziploc bag together and shake it or you can put the fries on the baking sheet, drizzle with the oil, sprinkle the spices and mix it all up with your hands. I've done it both ways and both of them work just fine. It depends on whether or not you mind getting your hands a little messy!

5. Once the fries are all spiced up, place them on a greased baking sheet.