Southwestern Sweet Potato Fries

Ah, the sweet potato.  Once my childhood nemesis, now a favorite side dish at dinner.  As a child I spent many an evening staring down various cold vegetables on my plate, long after the rest of my family had finished eating and  were off enjoying their evenings.  The sweet potato was one of those vegetables.  Today I really enjoy them and my favorite way to prepare them is baked as fries.  In this recipe I season them with southwestern spices, but they are great with just salt and pepper too.  My kids eat them this way which is great because they are full of beta carotene and Vitamin A.

In a small bowl combine 2 tsp sea salt, 1 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1 1/2 tsp cumin,
1 tsp paprika, and 1/8 tsp cayenne

Set aside 1 tsp of spice mix

Peel 4 large or 6 small sweet potatoes

Cut the off the pointy ends

Cut the sweet potatoes into pinkie finger size fries

Place sweet potato fries in a bowl

Add 3 Tbsp olive oil and toss

Add the larger portion of spice mix

Preheat oven to 425
Spread fries in a single layer on baking sheet
Bake for 15 minutes and turn fries, bake another 10 minutes and turn again,
bake for another 10 minutes and turn again, bake for an additional 5 minutes.

While the fries are baking mix 1/4 cup ketchup
(look for one without high fructose corn syrup),
1/4 cup plain yogurt or mayonnaise, and the tsp of spice mix you set aside 

Set aside dipping sauce

Remove fries from oven

Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy!