Cheesy Sweet Potato Crisps.

July 1, 2010

I’ve mentioned it before, but Mr. How Sweet is a huge fan of sweet potatoes.

In fact, they are one of his favorite foods, only coming in behind chicken and steak.

Speaking of chicken, there is a tic-tac-toe playing chicken at the Rivers Casino here in Pittsburgh. Mr. How Sweet has been talking about it for weeks. He wants to see that chicken more than he wants to peep in Megan Fox’s window. He says that he is positive he can beat the chicken at tic-tac-toe. He probably can. After all, he eats so much chicken that he probably thinks just like one.

The most common side dish to Mr. How Sweet’s chicken is a big pile of sweet potato fries. Because, as you know, if he doesn’t have a side his 2-year old tendencies kick in.

He doesn’t get bored of food, but I do. You know I’m always looking for a way to spice things up.

Enter these cheesy, crispy sweet potatoes.

It is only recently that I have learned to love sweet potatoes in a savory manner.

I was always an advocate for ’sweet’ sweet potatoes – loaded with cinnamon, butter, and marshmallows. Chocolate and bacon work, too.

Little did I know that when seasoned properly with some simple salt and pepper, they were just as delicious. Especially when cheese is involved.

These were a great substitute for fries and actually took about the same amount of time to make.

I whipped up a quick yogurt dipping sauce to bump up the protein, too,

Cheesy Sweet Potato Crisps

from Epicurious

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled

2 egg whites

1/2 cup romano cheese

1 teaspoon rosemary

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Set a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Spray rack with non-stick spray.

Grate sweet potatoes (I used a food processor) and squeeze all the moisture from them. I did this for a good 5 minutes – I find it makes them crisp up better in the oven.

Add sweet potatoes, egg whites, cheese, pepper, and rosemary in a large bowl and mix until combined. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of potato mixture (I used an ice-cream scooper) and set on wire rack. Press as thin as possible. Repeat until potatoes are gone.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes and dark around the edges and crispy.

Serve with smokey yogurt dip.

Smokey Yogurt Dip

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cumin

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Serve as dipping sauce.

Mr. How Sweet didn’t get any.

He fell into one of those deep, grouchy sleeps the minute he got home from work, and slept through the shredding of the sweet potatoes and the cheesy scent that wafted through the air.

He also slept through me munching away on these. Before I knew it, they were gone.

When he sees this, he isn’t going to be a happy camper.