My love for root vegetables is not just a winter thing. But I guess it’s stronger for most people at this time of the year so I thought I would share my favorite way to prepare sweet potatoes, yams, and parsnips.
It is simple but effective and the only big difference is in how you cut the vegetables – if you julienne them or slice them into thin rounds, you will get crispy chips, and if you cut them up into chunkier pieces, you will get ‘chips’ that are crispy on the outside and tender and soft on the inside.
You’ll need:
- yams/parsnips/sweet potatoes – depending on the size of the veg, estimate how much you’ll need for a tray-ful *parsnips cook down a lot!*
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- herbs de provence
1. Preheat oven to 375F/190C (depending on your oven, you can raise it later to 400F). Line a baking sheet with plenty of foil or use one of those disposable foil trays.
2. Wash, peel, and cut up the vegetables – in this case, yams.
3. Lay them out flat on the baking sheet, so each piece has some room and they are not all on top of each other. Toss with salt and pepper and plenty of olive oil. You don’t want these to get dry while baking so when you’re checking on them – about 30 minutes in – you can add a little more oil or shake the baking sheet/tray around a bit so everything is well-coated and seasoned.
4. Depending on the size of your ‘chips,’ they should be lightly browned and crispy in about 40-45 minutes.
This works every time, I promise. Try it with my favorite tangy yogurt dip – substitute ground cumin, fennel seeds or fresh cilantro for the cucumbers, if you’d like.
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