What if we told you that you could improve your sleep, help prevent osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease by eating fries? We promise you this is not an April fool’s joke!
Our sweet potato fries recipe will deliver all this and more! This involves cooking the potatoes in hemp oil with a sprinkle of hemp seeds.
And in this recipe, we will talk about the benefits of hemp seeds and hemp oil.
First, let’s look at potatoes! Not all potatoes are created equal. Let’s deep dive into the world of potatoes, their benefits and what makes them different.
Sweet Potato vs Regular Potatoes
Regular Potatoes
Let’s talk about regular potatoes first. Those yummy starchy vegetables that seem to be used at every meal.
Did you know potatoes are part of the nightshade family and contain high amounts of lectin and glycoalkaloids? These are fancy words used for the toxins in a plant's defence system.
These are designed to discourage animals, bugs and humans from eating them. While these won't kill you, eating too many of them can make you sick.
Glycoalkaloids and lectins have been proven to affect your immune system. They can also increase inflammation in your body. So, the more you can avoid the nightshade family of vegetables, the better.
Some other commonly eaten nightshades are tomatoes, eggplant and peppers, including capsicum.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes are actually not potatoes at all, they belong to the morning glory family. They are closer in relation to water spinach than they are to regular potatoes.
Sweet potatoes contain resistant starches and low levels of lectin. These carbohydrates are a soluble fibre that ferment in your large intestine. This acts as a prebiotic and will feed the good bacteria in your gut, leading to better digestive health.
Sweet potatoes are also extremely high in vitamin A, C, B and Manganese. 100g of sweet potatoes will give you over 200% of your daily vitamin A and 50% of your manganese requirements. All these vitamins combined can help:
- Boost your immune system
- Support bone health
- Maintain brain function
- Assist wound healing
- Lower your risk for some forms of cancer; just to name a few.
Sweet potatoes also have more flavour than regular potatoes. They don’t require heavy seasoning with salt. The flavour is also mild enough to not overpower additional herbs or spices.
Serving Ideas
Sweet potatoes are so versatile and easy to prepare. Here are a few other ways you can serve them.
- Fries are the perfect side dish to any meal or a snack on their own.
- Sweet potato chips/crisps when sliced thinly by hand or with a mandolin, can be fried until crisp. Making them a healthy alternative to potato chips or crisps.
- Baked sweet potatoes can be baked whole in the oven. For a flavourful twist, cut in half and sprinkle with hemp seeds and drizzle with hemp oil.
- Mashed peel your sweet potatoes and cut into cubes. Boil in lightly salted water until soft, mash and serve. For a more indulgent mash, add a drizzle of hemp oil and sprinkle with hemp seeds.
We are going to make a batch of sweet potato fries. So let's explore how to get the best crunchy and flavourful fries possible.
To Soak or Not To Soak?
Soaking regular potatoes is common practice to remove the starch from the vegetable. Too much starch will make it hard for your potatoes to form that golden crunchy surface.
Sweet potatoes don’t contain as much starch as regular potatoes. You can soak them; however, it has not proven to make any difference to the crunch.
Top 3 Tips to Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
- Sweet potatoes don’t need to be soaked prior to cooking. And they will be crunchier if they are left dry. Simply cut your potatoes and allow them to sit on paper towel for 10 mins to absorb any moisture.
- Being baked or fried twice will give the sweet potatoes the crunchiest result. Simply bake or fry until slightly golden. Remove and place on a rack or paper towel to drain. Once they are cool, return them to the oven or pan and cook until crispy.
- Toss your sweet potato fries in corn flour before cooking. The corn flour will help create a delicious golden crunchy coating.
Top Tips to Keep Them Healthy
- Choose your oils wisely. We recommend using hemp oil, no matter how your sweet potato is cooked.
- Cook, chill and reheat. Frying or baking your sweet potato twice will allow it to retain the maximum resistant starches. This is better for your digestive system and can increase their probiotic effect. Simply cook your sweet potato, place in the fridge to chill and reheat the same way they were first cooked.
Benefits of hemp seeds
Hemp seeds are truly nature’s perfectly created superfood. They are packed full of protein, almost no carbs and no sugar. And three tablespoons of hemp seeds per day provides you with many nutritional benefits including:
-
3000mg omega 3 fatty acids
Omega 3’s can lower your blood pressure and lower your risk of heart attack or stroke. -
50% of you daily magnesium intake
Magnesium is essential for brain function and can help with muscle recovery. -
High in fibre
Fibre helps stablise your blood sugar levels. And high fibre foods are great for diabetics. -
High in other vitamins and minerals
Including vitamin E, B vitamins, folate, zinc and iron to name a few.
Hemp seeds are one of the only complete proteins that is completely derived from plants. Complete proteins are those that contain all 9 essential amino acids our body can’t produce on its own.
The main sources of complete proteins are meat, dairy and soy. And hemp, the healthier alternative, has the same amazing benefits.
And using hemp seeds and hemp seed oil in your cooking is a great way to take advantage of these added health benefits. Our easy sweet potato fries recipe is a great example. Using organic hemp oil to cook the fries in and a sprinkle of hemp seeds to add a nutty crunch.
Easy Sweet Potato Fries Recipe
Ingredients:
- Large Sweet Potato
- Hemp Oil
- Salt
- Hemp Seeds
Steps:
STEP 1: Place a frypan on medium heat. Wash your sweet potato well under cold running water. Dry with a paper towel.
STEP 2: Cut sweet potato into fries. The skin of the sweet potato is full of nutrients so there’s no need to peel it.
STEP 3: Place in a bowl and drizzle generously with hemp oil. Season with salt and sprinkle with hemp seeds.
STEP 4: Cook sweet potato fries in the heat pan until golden and crispy.
Now that you have yummy sweet potato fries, you need the perfect dipping sauce! So, here’s a bonus recipe of our favourite garlic aioli.
This recipe is completely vegan, soy free and made from aquafaba, which is the liquid in a can of chickpeas. Aquafaba is a great egg substitute and can be used in many recipes including sauces and dips.
Bonus Vegan Garlic Aoli Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp aquafaba liquid
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup hemp oil
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
Steps:
STEP 1: In a medium sized bowl, add the aquafaba, vinegar, mustard and salt together. Using a stick blender, gently blend until combined.
STEP 2: Slowly add the hemp oil to the mixture by drizzling a small amount in at a time. Make sure it is well combined with every drizzle. It is important to keep the stick blender running at all times. Take your time with this step to ensure your aioli thickens.
STEP 3: When your aioli is thickened, stir in your garlic and lemon juice.
STEP 4: Dip your homemade sweet potato fries in your aioli and enjoy!
We love creating healthy recipes using our 100% organic hemp products. All AT Hemp products are made with love in Australia using only organic locally-sourced ingredients.
We offer fast delivery Australia-wide. You can find the answer to some of your frequently asked hemp questions and shop our range of hemp food products.
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