Sweet Potato Oven Fries with Rosemary and Smoked Paprika

So addictive, you’ll almost feel like you’re eating junk food, but a lot less guilty about it.  This recipe was inspired by a glut of farmshare sweet potatoes and Martha Rose Shulman’s recipe for Oven Fries in the New York Times

You can also use a mix of sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. 

Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2-4, as a side dish

Ingredients:
2 lbs sweet potatoes, or a mix of sweet potatoes and waxy white potatoes
1 T dried rosemary, or more fresh rosemary
2 t smoked paprika
Coarse salt or kosher salt to taste
3 T EVOO (Extra-Virgin Olive Oil)

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees,
2. Line a baking sheet or roasting pan with foil, shiny side up and place in the oven during preheaating.  This step is important to speed the cooking, and also because sweet potatoes can be really tough to clean up.
3.  Cut the potatoes into wedges that are 1/4-1/2″ thick.
4.  Toss potatoes with EVOO, rosemary, paprika, and salt.
5.  Remove the hot pan from the oven and add the potatoes in a single layer.  They will sizzle. 
6. Return pan to oven, lower heat to 450 degrees, and roast 25 minutes or until tender. 
7.  If necessary, loosen the potatoes with a spatula and roast for another 5 minutes.
8.  Taste (carefully) to adjust seasoning.  Serve immediately, or hold in a 200 degree oven for 30 minutes before serving. 

Rosemary-Saffron Root Vegetable Puree

Root vegetables are high in fiber, very filling, and generally low in calories. I like to buy a bunch of “storage vegetables” at the end-of-season farmer’s market and experiment with different kinds of root vegetable purees. I stumbled upon a great formula: anything + 1 parsnip = delicious. The root vegetable puree above features celery root (celeriac, which sounds significantly more disease-like than “celery root”) and parsnip. Below I provide more of a set of guidelines than a recipe.

Root vegetables vary significantly in size, so season to taste. I served this as a base for some spicy chicken, so I intentionally kept it mild. You could easily kick it up with some white pepper, red pepper flakes, or even cayenne.

1 Parsnip, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
2 celery roots, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
vegetable stock or water to nearly cover the veggies
1 t saffron, toasted (optional)
2 t rosemary
1 t dry mustard
2 T butter or heart-healthy margarine
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the root vegetables in a large saucepan or dutch oven. Add vegetable stock or water to nearly cover the veggies. Use less water if you like a thicker puree. Bring to a boil, then simmer until veggies are just tender.
2. Add the toasted saffron, rosemary, dry mustard, margarine, and salt and pepper to taste. Puree with an immersion blender or in a blender or food processor. Taste to adjust seasonings. Serve.

Rosemary-Saffron Root Vegetable Puree

Root vegetables are high in fiber, very filling, and generally low in calories. I like to buy a bunch of “storage vegetables” at the end-of-season farmer’s market and experiment with different kinds of root vegetable purees. I stumbled upon a great formula: anything + 1 parsnip = delicious. The root vegetable puree above features celery root (celeriac, which sounds significantly more disease-like than “celery root”) and parsnip. Below I provide more of a set of guidelines than a recipe.

Root vegetables vary significantly in size, so season to taste. I served this as a base for some spicy chicken, so I intentionally kept it mild. You could easily kick it up with some white pepper, red pepper flakes, or even cayenne.

1 Parsnip, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
2 celery roots, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
vegetable stock or water to nearly cover the veggies
1 t saffron, toasted (optional)
2 t rosemary
1 t dry mustard
2 T butter or heart-healthy margarine
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the root vegetables in a large saucepan or dutch oven. Add vegetable stock or water to nearly cover the veggies. Use less water if you like a thicker puree. Bring to a boil, then simmer until veggies are just tender.
2. Add the toasted saffron, rosemary, dry mustard, margarine, and salt and pepper to taste. Puree with an immersion blender or in a blender or food processor. Taste to adjust seasonings. Serve.