Golden polenta fries

 

I know what’ you’re thinking. You’re thinking that fries have taken over my kitchen blog. And you are absolutely right! I’ve been craving these little golden gems like crazy these days so I’ve been experimenting with different kinds of fries. Monday was all about sweet potato fries (you can read the post here) but today, the spotlight is on polenta fries. Yes, you read that correctly, polenta made into fries. Divine!

One of the reasons fries have my heart is because they can be a very nourishing side dish or  snack and they’re fun to eat, whether you’re a toddler or a grown up. Everyone loves fries. You can dress’em up any way you like, whether you’re the typical ketchup dipper or you wanna go fancy and dip them in guacamole or a spicy roasted red pepper sauce. We served them with the lather for dinner last night.

Actually, I shouldn’t say “we”, I should say my husband. Yup, that’s right, my husband made these for me for my birthday yesterday. He served them as an appetizer and if he hadn’t told me there was a main course coming after (fried tofu with sweet & spicy Asian inspired sauce over jasmine rice! That’ll be Friday’s post), I would have eaten the entire plate myself. Full disclosure, I did sneak the leftover fries with the red pepper sauce in my lunch bag because these fries were the bomb and make amazing leftovers!

The making of polenta fries is quite simple actually, although it does require a few steps. But please don’t shy away from this recipe just because of the multiple steps. They are totally worth it! And they don’t take much active time at all to make. Most of it is resting time where you can do other things. Time is precious my friends, remember Monday’s post!

The first step for these polenta fries is to actually cook the polenta, which takes no time at all. For these fries, my husband used a medium grain cornmeal. It’s the cornmeal I always have on hand because I find it gives just enough texture without being too grainy.

Once the polenta is cooked, just transfer it to a baking dish, covered in parchment paper, and spread it evenly. I recommended a 9X13 inch baking dish so the fries are long and lean. If you want chubbier fries, you can use a 9X9 baking dish instead but you’ll need to adjust your baking time and add a few extra minutes. After it’s cooked, the polenta needs to set in the refrigerator. If you can let them rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, that’s ideal.

Once the polenta is cool and set, cut into fry-like shape and pop them in the oven for 30 minutes (15 minutes each side – I also like to broil them for the last 1 min of each side to give the fries that golden crispy texture). Your polenta fries will come out of the oven.

Now before I give you the recipe for these beautifully golden and crispy fries, you know I’m going to share another mindfulness concept with you guys. And it actually has everything to do with an important step of making these fries: the resting time.

 

Just like polenta needs time to set to become beautiful fries, you also need time to “set” to become the best possible you. What I mean by that is this: you most likely lead a very busy life: you juggle a job, and maybe even 2 or 3 jobs; you take care of your children, a spouse, an elderly parent or your in-laws, maybe you foster animals; you take care of your home, do the laundry, dishes, meal prep, lunches for the next day; you try to keep everybody fed and clothes and clean and functioning. Everything you are, everything you have, everything you do, you give freely to everyone around you. But what about you? When do you have time for you? Where is the “setting” time for yourself in your day?

To continue reading on time “setting” for yourself, please join me here.

If you want to get to the recipe first before reading the mindfulness post, just scroll on down my friend.

Hope you guys enjoy these fries.

Don’t forget to click on the recipe title and leave me a comment at the bottom of the post to let me know what you served these delicious polenta fries with.

xx

 

Golden polenta fries
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 portions
Versatile, these polenta fries make a great side dish or snack.
Ingredients
  • 3 Cups of water
  • 1 vegetable broth cube
  • 1 tsp dry oregano
  • 1/2 tsp dry rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp dry sage
  • 1/4 Cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 Cup medium size cornmeal
  • 2 Tbs vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven at 425 degrees.
  2. Line a 9X13 baking dish with parchment paper.
  3. In a large pot, bring the water to a boil.
  4. Add the vegetable broth cube and herbs. Stir.
  5. Whisk in the cornmeal, nutritional yeast and vegan butter.
  6. Reduce the heat to medium.
  7. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon so the polenta doesn’t clump up.
  8. The polenta will be ready when it starts pulling from the sides, after about 15 minutes of cooking.
  9. Pour the polenta in the baking dish and spread evenly. Set aside.
  10. When cool enough, put in the fridge for 30 minutes, to set.
  11. Once the polenta has set, cut into stick shapes.
  12. Spray a baking sheet with oil and arrange the fries so they’re not too crowded on the sheet.
  13. Bake for 15 minutes on each side, with the last minute on broil.
  14. Serve with your choice of dipping sauce.

 

tangy & crispy sweet potato fries

 

A post on fries on a Monday? Yes, absolutely! Because not only is it my birthday today so I’m totally allowing myself to enjoy in all the foods I love eating but, these fries are actually good for you as they are not deep fried in not-so-good-for-you vegetable oil but instead, are lovingly baked in the oven and tossed in delicious spices. Yes my friends, this is how we do fries in our house… because we love them so much and we want to eat them often without all the bad stuff, or guilt, but mainly because we don’t want the bad stuff.

Now I don’t know if I’ve shared this with you guys before, but my husband is not a fan of sweet potatoes. Actually, he down right doesn’t like them. I know. You don’t need to say it. It’s pure craziness! Who doesn’t love sweet potatoes…well, that would be my husband. But since my son and I absolutely love them, I have to find a way to sneak these little gems in our food somehow. My previous post was exactly that: hiding sweet potatoes in a curry. But these fries, these fries, he will devour!

The secret: their crispiness. Sweet potatoes fries tend to be limpy and mushy. That doesn’t make for a very appetizing fry. You want a fry that’s crispy and can be dipped in whatever condiment of your choosing without folding in half. Now to get that crispiness out of a sweet potato, here are my two golden rules:

  1. toss the evenly cut fries in some corn startch
  2. crank up the heat in the oven

Now I know you may frown at the idea of adding corn starch to your fries but it is essential for crispiness. You can also use potato starch if you prefer. Adding a starchy coating will allow less moisture on the exterior of the fries hence more crispy fries.

You also want to roast your fries instead of baking them, again in the name of a crispy exterior. That’s why I crank up my oven to 425°.

There are other tricks out there that are used to make crispy sweet potato fries, like soaking them for 20 minutes or double soaking them or leaving them in the oven for 30 minutes after baking time. While all these methods are good and valid and will give you crispier fries, I find them too time consuming for me. Yes I want crispy fries, but no I don’t want to soak them twice and wait an extra 40 minutes before putting them in the oven for 30 minutes or waiting an extra 30 minutes after they’ve finished baking for 30 minutes. It boils down to a choice: what do I choose to do with my time…

 

Too often, people forget that time is a commodity, just like money. If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: time is money. But as often as we’ve heard it, few of us have actually internalized it and applied the concept to our lives. Time is as important as money with this singular difference: you can never get time back. Whatever time has passed, it’s gone. You’ll never get that hour, day or week back. So what you choose to do with your time is as precious if not more, then what you choose to do with your money.

If you spend $100 on something you don’t like, you can simply return it. We’ve all done it. We get carried away in the store, seduced by an attractive bargain or influenced by a really good sales pitch. And then we come home and realize we actually don’t want/need this and it’s a total waste of our money so we return it. But if you spend 1 hour of your time doing something that has no value to you, you can’t get that hour back. It’s gone. There’s no time store to get more time.

So as careful as you are with your money and you spend it wisely on things that you and your family will need or want, spend your time wisely on things that either make you better, happier or wealthier.

Now what does that mean. It means this: if it makes you happy to spend time in the kitchen, trying out different methods on how to make crispy sweet potato fries, then by all means do it, because you are in a positive mindset and you will gain something from your time: a sense of accomplishment, a learning experience that bettered your kitchen skills and an opportunity to be of service to your family (feeding them delicious fries). Now that is time very well spent!

But if standing in a kitchen trying to figure out which methods works best to make sweet potato fries is of no appeal to you then use this quick & easy recipe and spend your time doing something that will bring you one of those three things: make you better, happier or wealthier. So pop these starch coated fries in the oven and sit down to read a book on self improvement or exercise to a Zumba video on youtube if that’s something you fancy, spend time with your family/friends/pet, or work on that project you’ve been putting aside but that could bring in extra money for you.

However it is that you choose to spend your time, always remember the three golden rule: better, happier, wealthier.

Now on to those fries!

Don’t forget to leave me a comment in the comment section by clicking on the title and going to the bottom of the post. Let me know how you like to spend your time and how it fits into the three golden rules.

xx

tangy & crispy sweet potato fries
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 portions
Ingredients
  • 4 whole sweet potatoes
  • 4 Tbs cornstarch
  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • 1 Tbs sumac
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
  1. Crank up the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Peel the potatoes then cut in half, lengthwise, then in 1/4 inch wide sticks.
  3. In a plastic bag, add the cornstarch.
  4. Add the fries to the bag and give a good shake until all the pieces are well coated.
  5. Shake off any extra cornstarch as you transfer the fries to a mixing bowl.
  6. Add the olive oil and the spices.
  7. Give a gentle stir with a wooden spoon to coat all the fries.
  8. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the fries evenly. Do not overcrowd the pan.
  9. Bake for 15 minutes then flip the fries and bake for another 15 minutes.
  10. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
  11. Enjoy with your favourite condiment or as is!