Baked Sweet Potatoes with Garlic Mayo

I have to admit that I was really unsure about sweet potatoes in general prior to making these.  I got three medium-sized taters in my organic produce delivery this week and was completely at a loss for what to make.  It seemed that all the recipes I found emphasized the sweetness of the potatoes instead of their savory possibilities. I thought savory sounded much more appetizing than sweet, so these potatoes were supposed to resemble the sweet potato fries found at pubs and restaurants.  I tried to keep them healthier by baking the fries instead of deep frying, which in effect made these fries a little softer than I expected.  If anyone has a suggestion for making them crispier when baking, I'd love to hear it!

Anyway, these baked sweet potato fries are accompanied by a delicious garlic mayo dipping sauce that is super easy to make.

**Edit 2/8/2009-- I tried making these again a couple days ago.  They turned out much better.  Here's what I changed:
I cut the potatoes each into 8 potato wedges (lengthwise).  I used peanut oil instead of olive oil.  I pre-heated the oven to 400.  Taking 1 tsp peanut oil, I used a paper towel to spread it over a baking sheet.  Then, put the baking sheet into the oven without the potatoes to heat to oven temperature.  Meanwhile, I put the potatoes in a ziploc baggie, poured in 1 TB peanut oil, added cracked pepper and sea salt and shook together in the baggie to coat fully.  After the pan heats, add the wedges with one of the cut sides down on the hot pan.  Make sure they are in a single layer and spread evenly.  Cook 20 minutes, then remove sheet and flip potatoes over with spatula so that the other cut side is down on the sheet.  Return to oven and cook about 15 minutes more, or until the wedges are browned and slightly crispy.  They turned out really well, with just a little crispiness outside, and a soft center.  I also made a chili powder mayo using about 3 TB mayo and 1 tsp hot chili powder.  It turned somewhat sweet as opposed to spicy. 

Here's my recipe:
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 Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 2-3 TB olive oil
• 4 TB Vegenaise vegan mayo
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika to taste (chili powder would probably be equally good cooked on these)

Method:  
Potatoes

1. Pre-heat oven to 400.
   
2. Cut sweet potatoes to desired size.  *I used my mandoline to slice them into fry-shaped pieces of a nearly equal size, but you can cut them to be bite-sized chunks should the mood strike.
3. In a large bowl, drizzle the olive oil over the potato pieces.
4. Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika to your desired tastes. 
5. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam (or the equivalent you use) and spread potatoes into a single layer.
6. Bake 20 minutes, then take out and flip potato pieces over so bottoms don't burn.
7. Return potatoes to oven another 20-30 minutes, or until they reach your desired crispness/doneness.

Garlic Mayo

1. In the last few minutes of cooking the potatoes, mix mayo and freshly minced garlic in a shallow dipping bowl.  
2. Let set about 10 minutes before serving to develop the garlic flavor.

*I paired the sweet potato fries with quick fridge pickles (thank you to Mart for that recipe) and Caesar salad with homemade garlic croutons.

Again, if you know of a way to crisp up these baked sweet potato fries, please leave a comment.  I'd really like to know.

Thank you for visiting :)