"I'll Take Turmeric on Those Fries"

When I was a kid I ate potatoes every day in one form or another: baked, fried, mashed, scalloped or slaked in mayonnaise. Now I’ve reduced my spud intake to once a week. When I have a hankering for French fries I make Roasted Turmeric Potatoes, which are far healthier than the fries you get from a drive-thru window.

If you’re eating your fries at a fast-food place—and I hope you’re not doing that too often—you might note what’s in them. McDonald’s French fries have 19 ingredients (many of them unpronounceable); Five Guys with Fries has only three. Interestingly, the fries that McDonald’s sells in the UK contain only 5 ingredients. But I digress.

If you and your family like French fries, it’s worth making a healthier and tastier version at home. The “fries” in this recipe are roasted and benefit from turmeric, a spice long esteemed for its healing properties.

In recent years, I’ve become a big fan of the yellow powdery spice, what nutritionist are calling the “super food.” I brought some back from Istanbul last year and have used it generously. Turmeric gives a pleasant color to foods, acts as an anti-inflammatory, combats Alzheimer’s disease, and aids in digestion, joint health, and cholesterol control.

“Incredibly healthy,” is the way nutritionist Jonny Bowden describes turmeric, his favorite spice. Turmeric can be added to scrambled egg or egg salad, tossed with roasted veggies, sprinkled on popcorn, added to rice, curries, stir-fry, veggie burgers and soups.

Roasted Turmeric Potatoes

(Serves 2, but can be expanded easily to serve more.)

Ingredients:

1 pound golden potatoes
2 tablespoons coconut oil, or olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated
a knob of ginger (about 1.5″ in size), peeled and grated, or less
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475F degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the potatoes vertically into eight wedges each (halve the potatoes vertically, halve those, and halve again). Or simply cut them in equal size cubes. Toss in a bowl with coconut oil, grated garlic, grated ginger, chopped parsley, turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper. (You might want to use a glass or metal bowl, since turmeric stains easily.)

Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet, in single layer and bake 30 to 40 minutes, tossing potatoes with halfway through. Serve warm, adding additional salt, if needed. (Adapted from foodloveswriting)