The FastDay Forum

I read here and there that sweet potatoes fries are tastier and healthier that boring french fries so I decided to give it a go

I found several recipes where the sweet potato is baked in the oven with olive oil and spices like paprika but I have some questions, if I may

How healthy are they, I mean what about the calories and the carbs on them ?

What is the traditional way of eating them ? Meat, veggies, something else ?

And the most intriguing question, whant does it taste like ? It's a strange question, I know, but, without knowing why, I am a bit worried

Thanks

Google nutrition values :

Values are sweet potato, normal potato and per 100g of raw potato :-

Calories 86,77
Carbs 20,17
Fiber 3,2.2
Potassium 337mg,421mg
Protein 1.6g, 2g
Vit A 283%, 0% of RDA
Vit C 4%, 32%
Vit B-6 10%, 16%

They don't fry the same as a potato, always squishy inside in my experience rather than light and floury.

I love the orange sweet potato also called kumara. Baked or mashed. Yummo.

I love kumera too. I cut them up into thick long chunks approx. 3-4 cm wide by about 7-8 cm long. I spray them with a touch of oil and wrap them individually in aluminium foil that is lined with baking paper (so the aluminium does not touch the food). I bake them till soft.

I serve my sweet potato/kumera with roasts (usually) as I can just toss the sweet potato in the oven at the appropriate time and then everything is finished all together.

Sweet potato the taste is similar to some kinds of pumpkin. The texture is similar to potato but it is no where near as starchy. The sweet potato bakes to a much softer consistency than the potato.

Try it and let us know how you like them.

I cut them up like french fries, shake in a bag with some olive oil and bake on a cookie sheet. I don't even use spice, but (warning not lo cal) I have had them with a cinnamon and butter mix - super!

I love Sweet potato salad: just peel orange kumera and cut into cubes pop onto tray covered in baking paper. I just splash over bit of olive oil and with tongs toss around to spread oil, don't need much. Bakes faster than potato and caramelises. Lovely with baby rocket, balsamic vinegar and some roasted pine nuts. I don't know caloric value but great yum factor, Bon appetite

OMG I drooled a little reading you all !

I hope this is an orange one (have absolutely no idea whant they should look like with the peel on)

If it taste a bit like pumkin, I think there will be soup, pies, smash and so on because I am in love with pumkins

I think I will just serve them with a big salad, no meat

We'll see tomorrow

Thanks

I hope this is an orange one (have absolutely no idea whant they should look like with the peel on)

An orange one is orange on the outside too. If you ended up buying a white one don't worry, just prepare it the same way as the orange one. I buy the white ones when I can't get the orange kind.

OMG This is epic !

We didn't eat yet (they are baking) but I never lived such adventures while cooking

I broke my peeler while peeling the sweet potatoes wich is strange
I understand why I broke it when I tried to cut them. OMG they are hard to cut !!!

For now they are in the oven we'll eat them with mussels

I'll tell you later how it tasted

I just cut them into wedges then throw them in the cast iron grill pan. They caramelise and no oil is needed. They're amazing.

Verdict : good but a bit too sweet for fries for my taste. I think I will use them for soups cakes or pies in the future

One of my fav pubs do these. Mmmmm

One of my fav meals is smoked haddock on a bed of mashed sweet potato. Heavenly.

X

I have a friend that eats it raw.

O didn't think of smash and smoked fish, thanks for the idea

Convert52 and your friend still have teeth ? This is a hard thing to cut....

I have another strange question, are sweet potatoes and yams the same thing ? if not, what is the difference ?

I do not like the "sweet" factor of sweet potatoes. I prefer them to be savoury. I don't like the brown sugar/caramelized recipes that are often served here (In the U.S.) at Thanksgiving and so on.

Having said that, I *love* sweet potato fries. I put salt/pepper/garlic/onion powder on them to make them savory and I do toss them in olive oil before I bake them. They do not end up quite as crispy or as 'fluffy' on the inside as deep-fat-fried white potatoes, but they are so full of vitamins/fiber/nutritional value that I don't buy/provide the white-potato fries to my clan any more.

Also, our local grocery stores sell brands of already cut and partially pre-baked sweet potato fries so they qualify as "quick and easy" which is crucial at my house.