RECIPE | BAKED FRIES

One of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures to eat definitely has to be French fries. But there is a valid reason as to why it’s called a guilty pleasure. Its delicious yet oily nature makes it pleasurable to eat, but leaves us feeling a bit guilty for consuming so much fried oil. So I started looking for ways to take the guilt out of the equation and I came up with Garlic Parmesan Baked Fries. Of course you can season your baked fries only with salt. But since it is baked, I wanted to add more flavors in order to compensate for the absence of the richness that is provided by frying it. Here are a few quick steps to make a delicious and scrumptious Garlic Parmesan Baked Fries!

| INGREDIENTS

2 medium-sized potatoes

2 teaspoons of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1/3 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon of olive oil

After washing the potatoes, peel off the skins and cut them into fries-shaped thin pieces. As a trick, you can cut the potato in half on the longer axis and cut each half into long thin slices. Be careful not to cut them too thick, as it will be harder for them to get crunchy. You may not want to cut them too thin either or else they can burn easily in the oven.

Once they are cut, place the pieces in a medium-sized bowl and fill it with cold water. Let it rest for 10 minutes. This step is very important to get the starch out of the potatoes and help make them more crunchy. While letting it rest, pre-heat oven at 385 degrees Fahrenheit. When the potatoes have soaked in water for 10 minutes, drain out the liquid and dry the potatoes with kitchen towel. Add the olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt into the potatoes and mix well, making sure the seasonings are evenly distributed. Note: You can add less or more garlic powder, cayenne pepper,  and salt depending on your preferences. Make sure not to add too much of garlic powder or cayenne pepper since they may overpower the rest of the seasonings.

Prepare a baking sheet using aluminum foil and spread some olive oil on the foil in order to prevent the fries from sticking to it. Lay the potatoes flat on the baking sheet while making sure that they are not on top of another. This will make sure that the potatoes are uniformly cooked. Once the oven is ready, put the potatoes in and baked for 30 minutes. Depending on the power of your oven, the baking time may vary. But make sure that when you get them out, they have a nice, golden colour and that they are crunchy. Once they are done, sprinkle some parmesan cheese on the fries and voila! You have yourself a crispy-on-the-outside and soft-on-the-inside Garlic Parmesan Baked Fries! And you won't have to feel bad about eating fries anymore since they are a much healthier alternative to your regular traditional fried fries. Enjoy!