Crispy Sweet Potato Fries and Chipotle Mayo Dip

Prepare yourself for my ABSOLUTE favourite snack- perhaps of all time! This snack helps to bring out the social aspect of snacking. While crisps or chips are a convenient food to munch on, you can make this with friends or family and it can make for a fun time and tasty snacking! My history with sweet potato fries begins in the 10th grade. I was at a chain sit down restaurant in Ontario (I don't remember which one in particular) with my brother. As if it was something that was in fashion, my brother ordered sweet potato fries with spicy mayo and looked over at me and said, "Yo, Ed this is going to blow your mind, trust me." Naturally as you would when your older brother tells you something like this, you immediately think "pfft, what the heck do you know"

Turns out they were actually going to blow my mind and I followed my brother on the trend that would last until present day! For the record, I'm pretty sure I said, "meh, they're sub-par," just to play it cool. Enough of story time here is the really quick and easy recipe and instructions

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

What you need:

2 sweet potatoes- peeled and sliced into fries

4 tsp corn starch

2 tsp oil (I prefer coconut or olive but something like avocado oil would be fine as well)

½ tsp garlic powder (or other seasoning- I've also tried cinnamon, just makes it too sweet so for salty fries stick to garlic powder)

cooking spray

salt to taste

How To:

1. First what you're going to want to do is peel your sweet potatoes and slice them up into fries

2. Then put them into a large bowl and fill the bowl to the top with cold water (The reason we do this is to help remove some of the starch layers to help them cook more evenly and to help give you that crispy outside without losing the tender inside). Set aside for 30-45 minutes ( I usually go put the oven to preheat to 425 Degrees Fahrenheit/220 Celsius now.) You don't have to set them aside for that long if you're strapped on time, however for desired crispiness 30-45 is ideal!

3. Then strain your fries out and pat them dry on a tea towel (PLEASE DO NOT USE PAPER TOWELS! SAVE THE PLANET)

4. In a large bowl, place your sweet potato fries and add cornstarch and evenly coat fries (this also helps to remove the moisture from the outer surface of the fries and coats the fries more efficiently with seasonings creating improved taste and texture!

5. Add oil of choice, garlic powder and toss the fries in the bowl or stir to mix evenly.

6. Place the Sweet Potato fries on a cooking sprayed baking sheet and put in the oven at 425 Degrees Fahrenheit/ 220 Celsius and bake for 15 minutes

7. Flip the fries, and place the fries back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes or until sufficiently browned-- bare in mind that if you're monitoring the "Crispiness" the fries will become crispier when cooled so don't let the fries stay in for too long!

8. Remove fries and if you have a cooling grid, you can take them off the baking sheet and leave to cool for 5 minutes

9. Serve with Chipotle mayo dip recipe found below!

Chipotle Mayo

This chipotle mayo recipe is easiest made in a food processor or a blender, and helps improve the consistency of the dip when done so. I'll be honest, I've yet to try it manually, but I'm sure if you have to whisk it together in a bowl it wouldn't be the end of the world! If you want added spice and more of that smokey chipotle taste, feel free to add 1 Teaspoon of smoked paprika!

What You'll Need:

1 cup Light Mayonnaise

2 tablespoons chopped chives

2 minced/pressed garlic cloves

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice (its fairly easy to slice a lime in quarters and then squeeze, but you can also use prepacked lime juice, not as good in my opinion. Plus you can use any leftover lime slices for Tequila 😜

1 teaspoon chile powder or chipotle hot sauce

(If Desired) 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt and pepper

1. Combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together one at a time/ Put ingredient in the blender/ food processor and combine.

2. Chill before serving

Please make sure to let me know how you and your family/friends get on with this recipe. Again, it's one of my favourites, because of the memories I have with the food, and the wonderful flavour makes for a replacement to regular fries with added Vitamin A, C and Beta Carotene with fewer Calories than regular fries! Share Responsibly!

- Ed