Sweet Potato Spears

I got this tasty, healthy side dish out of the October 2002 Cooking Light magazine. I'll often substitute it for French fries if making burgers or meatloaf. It probably takes about 15 minutes of prep, and 25-35 minutes in the oven, so about 40-50 minutes total.


1 1/2 lbs. sweet potato [2 decent sized ones - this will be enough that your cookie sheet will be plenty crowded, so if you do more, plan on more than one cookie sheet]
1 Tbl. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Cooking spray

Peel sweet potato, and cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch wedges [no bigger]. Combine potato wedges, olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and nutmeg. [In Ms. Huis Herself Land, a good jot of olive oil, and various size sprinkles/pinches of the rest - no need to get anal on the measurements!] Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; place in oven on bottom rack. Bake at 450 F for 25 minutes [to 35, depending... like if you have your oven at a lower temp for something else] or until tender, turning once.

These heat up well in a skillet, but just get soggy in the microwave.

Footnote for the Cooking Impaired: Yeah, this may be obvious to the rest of you, but your average apple cutter is NOT strong enough to use on a sweet potato, so don't even think about cutting your sweet potato in half, putting the cut side down, then trying to "easily" cut it into wedges that way... not that I'm the voice of experience on that or anything...