Recipe: Baked Cumin-Spiced Fries

Fries have been on my mind since I finished a side of perfectly thick, salty, and crispy ones last week at Papa George's in Jasper. My last attempt at fry making resulted in baked potato wedges -- still delicious, but not crispy whatsoever. A couple months later I tried yam fries, which were pretty good, if not a little bland. This time around, inspired by Healthy and Happy's oil-free recipe, I set out to produce a crispy and tasty fry.

I had the day off yesterday, so spent the morning wandering the mall for a bit before picking up groceries. I came back with a bag of potatoes and a package of cumin -- a spice that had been sorely lacking in my collection (despite being one of my favourites!).

After a late lunch I set out making my fries, which I'd decided would be my dinner (no judgement, please). I scrubbed six russet potatoes, then sliced them into sticks. I laid the potato sticks out on two baking sheets and sprinkled them with cumin (the original recipe uses oregano, basil, and garlic powder...which should probably be added to my spice cupboard as well!).

I ensured the potato sticks were spread out and not touching before popping them into the oven, and baked them at 400 degrees F for around 50 minutes. The original recipe suggests a 20-minute baking time, but I found that they hadn't crisped up at all by that time and continued to bake them, checking periodically, until they'd sufficiently dried out.

I'll also mention that I didn't grease my baking sheets -- only because the ones I have are still new enough that their stick-free coating actually works (impressively well). The original recipe recommends lining the baking sheets with parchment paper to preempt a big clean-up job -- this sounds like good advice; listen to her, not me, here!

These cumin-spiced fries turned out satisfyingly crispy, but definitely "healthy"-tasting, as expected given that the recipe (can I even call it that?) involved no salt or oil. Dipped in ketchup and eaten in bed while watching The Bachelor (again, no judgement please), they were the perfect snacky dinner to complete a relaxing day off.

I'm looking forward to making these again with different seasonings -- sriracha or garlic or...any suggestions?!