Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Welcome to my Ayurveda & Yoga blog! I’m Evangeline and I’m an RMT and holistic health coach. I started my blog during covid to stay connected to my clients and share my love of cooking healthy, AYURVEDIC INSPIRED meals.
Ayurvedic cooking is a conscious approach to preparing and cooking tasty, nutritious, balanced meals using spices and herbs, and taking into consideration the external conditions such as the season and time of day, in addition to how you are feeling.
Sweet potato fries with cooling spices for the summer! Balance is key to health. Adding cooling spices to your cooking in the summer balances pitta qualities in us (the fire element). Herbs and spices, not only add flavour to your food, but they have medicinal qualities that support overall health. This is all part of Ayurvedic cooking, a conscious approach to preparing and cooking tasty, nutritious, balanced meals using spices and herbs, and taking into consideration the external conditions (season, time of day) and your internal environment (how you are feeling, state of your health).
In our household, baked sweet potato fries are very much a welcomed variation, any time of the year, to our usual pop-the-whole sweet potato-in-the-oven and bake for an hour. And what’s a summer without “burger and fries” on your summer menu line-up? Check out my vegetarian burger recipes, using beluga lentils, split mung beans, and red lentils.
Japanese and Caribbean baked sweet potato fries with rosemary, combined with a cooling, summer spice mix.
Cooking has taken on a whole new meaning for me and my family upon being introduced to Ayurveda in 1998, initially with the book, Conscious Eating by Gabriel Cousens. I was immediately hooked into a deeper appreciation for food, and healthy eating. Soon after I had the good fortune of studying Ayurveda from Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, and at the same time Yoga and breath work, which was seamlessly incorporated in my existing Massage Therapy practice. During covid, I began taking photos and writing up recipes to inspire others to eat healthy at home. So here we are! If you are beginning to discover Ayurveda, or even if you are deep into Ayurveda, you will find useful tips here to create tasty, nutritionally balanced meals, along with sound knowledge on creating and sustaining a healthy diet and routine, two main pillars in Ayurveda for a long, healthy, happy life.
About to be baked at 350° F - Japanese and Carribbean sweet potatoes coated with olive oil, summer spice mix, and fresh rosemary. The Japanese ones are whiter in colour, than the Caribbean ones, which have a light orange tinge.
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Yields: 3-4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes
INGREDIENTS
4 medium size sweet potatoes - any variety or choose a few for colour
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ tsps ground fennel
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp rose petals
½ tsp ground rosehip
⅛ tsp ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary or 2 tsps dried rosemary
Soma salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cut a piece or two of parchment paper and lay out onto large baking sheet.
Wash and peel sweet potatoes and cut into ¼ inch thick, ½ inch wide pieces.
Toss in a bowl with olive oil, rosemary and spices.
Spread out the sweet potatoes onto baking sheet.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Add a sprinkling of soma salt before serving.
Serve immediately with your favourite vegetarian burger, or as a snack!
Enjoy!
For a colourful plate of sweet potato fries look for white, purple, and orange sweet potato varieties.
Pictured here are five types of sweet potatoes- Japanese, purple, red, white and orange.
Ayurvedic Profile of Spices and Herbs in Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Fennel - cooling quality; balances the heat of pitta dosha
Coriander - cooling; binds toxins and ushers them to the urinary channels
Rose petals - cooling to the body, and soothes the heart and mind; pacifies sadhaka pitta located at the heart
Rosehip - soothing to the heart and mind
Rosemary - slight heating quality, but soothing to the heart and mind
Black Peppercorns - slightly heating; opens the channels
Soma Salt - a Himalayan rock salt, high in minerals, with a cooling quality, compared to other salts
Split Mung Bean & Moringa Burger with baked Japanese sweet potato fries with rosemary and cooling spices, and Mango Chutney, garnished with cilantro leaves.
Vaidya R. K. Mishra - Notes from Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda Courses, Practicum, Conferences and Lectures 2003-2015
Chandika - Ayurvedic Knowledge, Blog, Pranic Formulations