Zesty Yam Fries

Took me: 20 minutes total in the kitchen

Every time I've gone to Trader Joe's, I've seen their Sweet Potato Fries and passed them up. They just never really seemed worth trying to me, when I knew that I always would have regular french fries to fall back on. However, I've spent the last month trying to drop the 20 pounds of winter-weight I put on this year, so when I saw a picture of these on Tumblr, I realized I had to make them. Healthier and more unique tasting than Ore-Ida bake at home's, both my family and I were very impressed by these zesty yam fries. (Technically they're made from sweet potatoes, but I've gone my whole life assuming that if they're orange they're yams. For an interesting article clearing this up, click here)

You Need:
1 large yam (or orange sweet potato?!), peeled
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon (or less, depending on tolerance for spice) cayenne petter

First off, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Everything else can be done while it's preheating. The hardest part of this recipe is cutting the yam - which isn't actually too hard at all, just don't forget to peel it first. I found the best way to get a nice crunchy fry is to first cut the yam in half (they tend to break if you try to make them too long). Then cut each half in half lengthwise. Then cut each of those halves (now quarters) in half again...then cut those halves of halves of halves in half...I think you get the idea. Once you have a bunch of halves (no pun intended) here is what you HAVE to do (pun intended): whisk the egg white (not too much, just enough so it is a little frothy) and pour it into a shallow, 8x8 casserole dish. Then take your yam sticks and place them into the dish. Work them around with your hands until all sides of all your fries are nice and slimy. Then sprinkle the mixed spices around in there until there's an even coat of those as well. Now take the fries and put them on a cookie sheet so that they aren't overlapping eachother. Bake them for 20-25 minutes. Let them cool, then munch on them alone or with ketchup. I promise that you will be pleasantly surprised