Chunky sweet potato fries with herbed yogurt dip recipe: Day 40

My 19-year-old sister-in-law chose the Chunky Sweet Potato Fries with Herbed Yogurt Dip and paired it with her favourite Chatelaine recipe to date, the Hearty Middle Eastern Supper Salad.  She had invited a classmate over to join us for a weeknight dinner before they headed out for the evening. I approved of her choices. Who doesn’t love sweet potato fries? And with freshly-made herbed yogurt dip? Yummy.   

It was a fast and easy prep for dinner as my husband had put on some rice and peeled the sweet potatoes before I got home. I tagged him out of the kitchen to make the fries and dip while the teenagers (teenaged adults?) set out to make the salad. My husband retreated to the living room to act out ‘Bus’ and ‘Airplane’ with our inventive, but sometimes bossy, two-year-old.   

Slicing the sweet potatoes, however, seemed to take me longer than the 10-minute preparation time, largely because I am trying not to lose my favourite fingers in the chopping process. I often opt for pulling out the food processor when it comes to sweet potatoes and letting technology slice them into chips for me. It’s worth the disassembly and parts-cleaning post-dinner procedures. Wedges are fun, though, especially for toddlers and teenagers. Actually, wedges are also fun for weary 30-something parents, aren’t they?  

I had made sweet potatoes fries before, but this was my first time making performing the trick of preheating the oiled baking sheet. What a novel idea! Too bad that I left it heating in the oven a bit too long and our handy 19-year-old housemate had to jump to her occasional post fanning open the door from the kitchen to the back yard to coax the smoke alarm into silence. The smoke detector didn’t actually go off (this time) but we could both tell it was a close call. The tell-tale smoky air in the kitchen and burning smell filling our nostrils reminded us of a few other kitchen experiences we’ve shared in the last few months. In any case, next time I pre-heat an oiled baking sheet I will do so for a shorter time period. I blame it on me having a hard time locating the garlic salt.   

The yogurt dip was really tasty and so simple to make with just three ingredients: yogurt, dried rosemary and grated lemon peel. Our son loved using his dip as a pit stop for everything on his plate before making it to his mouth. The fries were spicier than I expected even though I am certain I used only ¼ tsp of cayenne pepper on four (rather than three) sweet potatoes. I would use less next time unless I am serving a table-full of cayenne pepper aficionados.   

This meal was so tasty that dinner conversation was minimal. Another fast and easy dish to add to our weeknight menu rotation. Success!