Yukon Gold potatoes. Photo courtesy Steve Henderson Fine Art.
Who doesn’t love French Fries? But who doesn’t also know that they don’t really qualify as the day’s vegetable — I mean, soaked in grease and dripping with calories.
But fast food doesn’t have to be bad food, and Yukon Gold “French Fries” are a low grease alternative that actually does qualify as something decent to eat — potatoes, when they’re not junked up, provide Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium and Manganese — and they’re cheap.
While you can use any variety of potatoes for these baked fries, look for Yukon Golds, which have a buttery flavor and texture that is mmmmmm yummy. Yukon Golds come in all sizes, from a little smaller than a golf ball to “real sized,” what you’d expect a russet to look like.
Ingredients:
8 Yukon Gold potatoes, 3-4 inches long or the equivalent
Olive Oil
Salt
Cut the potatoes into 3/4 to 1 inch chunks. Generally, I slice the potato lengthwise into three slices; holding it together, I flip it 90 degrees and make three more slices. I then stack the lengthwise slices and cut one-inch wedges. It doesn’t have to look uniform, as long as my culinary student daughter, Tired of Being Youngest, isn’t in the room. Look at the chunks in the picture at the top of the page — just make something that looks like that.
Coat the wedges with olive oil. I lay the wedges, in one layer, on a greased cookie sheet and pour over a tablespoon or two of oil, then mix it in with my hands.
Sprinkle with salt.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Take out the pan and flip the potatoes with a pancake turner. Bake another 15 minutes. By now they’re done. If you want them browner, flip again and bake until the wedges are the color you want them to be.
These go great with a salad on the side; and if I’ve got the oven warmed up anyway, I toss in a frozen chicken thigh or breast and let it cook (in a separate pan, with a little chicken broth poured over the top) alongside the potatoes.
Customize your lifestyle into one that saves money.
Potatoes are cheap, good food, and part of saving money is looking for cheap, good food that can be cooked and used in a variety of ways.
Saving money is a lifestyle, and my book, Live Happily on Less, shows you how you can make saving money a part of your lifestyle. Short, fun essays talk about the things our family has done through the years to achieve a mortgage-free house, 7 acres of land that we own outright, our car that we bought with cash, and our business, Steve Henderson Fine Art.
There are only a few books on living happily on less and this is a good one. — Amazon Reader Review
This Woman Writes by Carolyn Henderson 
Carolyn, this sounds easy and, as you say, mmmm… I ordered the kindle version of your new book yesterday morning and read the entire book yesterday (I needed a personal day anyway). The book has given me many great ideas where I/we can make small changes to live on less. Thanks for writing this book – I plan to re-read my notes and highlights soon.
Lori — I’m so happy to hear this! If you would like to post a review on Amazon.com, I would be most grateful, and if you were inclined to tell others about the book, I would be grateful again!
I’m glad that you took a personal day — and if you want an easy dinner tonight, these potatoes really are good. That’s what we ate last night, while we were watching Burn Notice on Netflix — just potatoes and some sort of sauce that Tired of Being Youngest threw together. — Carolyn
I’ve actually got the potatoes in the fridge! I’ll try it out. Yes, I am planning on adding a nice review on Amazon. I also shared it on Facebook just now. My hubby wants to read the book as well. He enjoys your blog on Fine Art Views. He reads my posts and your posts there, but I actually think he enjoys reading yours more. You’ve got a wonderful sense of humor, and we identify with your way of thinking. Thanks for sharing recipes. As someone who wears all the hats at home and as an artist/writer, I really need easy cooking. Off to the kitchen for me!