Crispy Sweet Potato Fries with Spicy Lime Dipping Sauce

This post should really be titled "How I Ate Two Large Sweet Potatoes All By Myself in Less Than 24 Hours." I planned to make these potatoes for dinner one night, but at the last minute I decided to hold one back and make it the following afternoon. Which was a great idea since I probably would have eaten them all anyway. I am sure, like every other food blogger on the planet, I could whine endlessly about the lack of natural lighting during dinner time in winter, the utterly aweful lighting in my kitchen (yellow walls, yellow light fixture... ugh...) and the super expense of buying actual fancy lights to use. Plus, I'm lazy. I probably wouldn't use them anyway. And because really, fries are never ever good the second day.

And so, as it happened, I ate an entire super huge sweet potato all by myself for dinner. And then another one for lunch the next day. And they are amazing. I couldn't stop eating them! In fact, I want another one right now. They are super easy to make. The recipe states that the potato wedges should soak in cold water for about 8 hours before you bake them, but knowing me, and the fact that I never ever read a recipe before I start cooking it, that didn't happen. The second time I did soak them for 8 hours, and I must say that they were only sliiightly more crunchy than the first time. So I would say you could be ok with skipping it all together if you want! I used mayo for the dipping sauce the first time, as per the original recipe. But the second time I decided to try it with some plain greek yogurt instead (I'm just not a big fan of mayo), and I liked it even better. And I bet you could use sour cream if you like it, too.

This month for Secret Recipe Club I was assigned the blog Fran's Favs, which is a great blog packed with all kinds of recipes! I also love Fran's super nerdy Simpson's type cartoon drawing of herself for her profile picture. LOVE it! Fran is an Italian Foodie, for sure, and was steeped in cooking growing up with a family who loved to cook. And if you didn't know that there was a "She Who Dies With The Most Cookbooks Wins" game going on, don't even bother, because Fran is pretty sure she has us all beat (she has an unbelievable collection of 300 books + magazines, newspaper clippings and online recipes. I think she might need to start out a lending library! :) Please go check out her blog, she has lots of fantastic recipes to share!

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries with Sriracha-Lime Dipping Sauce (Fran's Favs)

2-3 large sweet potatoes
1/4 cup corn starch
3-4 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup mayo, plain greek yogurt or sour cream
1-2 tsp sriracha sauce (depending on how spicy you like things)
1 tsp lime juice
lime zest

Peel the potatoes and cut them into medium sized wedges.
Place the potatoes in a container and fill with water; allow to soak for 10 minutes-8 hours.
Preheat your oven to 425F.
Line a large cooking sheet with foil or spray with cooking spray.
Remove the potato wedges from the container and shake off any additional water.
Place a small handful of the potato wedges in a plastic baggie along with a spoonful of cornstarch (If you try to do too many potatoes/cornstarch at one time, everything becomes a goopy mess).
Shake the baggie to coat the wedges in the cornstarch.
Place the potato wedges on the cookie sheet and repeat with remaining wedges.
Drizzle a bit of the olive oil on the wedges and toss to coat.
Spread the wedges out in a single layer (don't crowd them) and bake for 15 minutes.
Turn the wedges over and bake an additional 5 minutes.
Remove and enjoy!

To make the dipping sauce combine the mayo/sour cream/yogurt, the sriracha, and the lime juice and zest in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready.