Baked Parmesan sweet potatoes

A sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese adds another flavor to already delicious oven-baked sweet potatoes.

There are a million ways to make sweet potatoes. I've tried and tried and tried to make crispy sweet potato fries. Why aren't those efforts on my blog? Because they've failed. Spectacularly.

I'm okay blogging my failures, too, but honestly, I couldn't even bring myself to take pictures. And yes, I've tried all the tricks from all the recipes that say "here's the secret to crispy sweet potato fries!" Um, no, I couldn't do it, not the cornstarch trick, not the soak or rinse or bathe in cold water trick or both cold water and cornstarch. You know when I gave up? When I freaking deep fried them and they still weren't crispy!!

Okay, deep breath. It's upsetting because I love sweet potato fries. But they mock me. Never mind. I now switch my attention to other ways to make sweet potatoes without going the crispy-fries route (mutter). Thankfully, I can pan fry and bake sweet potatoes with the best of them and these turned out to be delicious.

I did make a couple of modifications from the original recipe to fit what I had in my spice drawer. I used paprika instead of Italian seasoning and sprinkled tarragon instead of parsley. (Hey, they were still bits of green.) They turned out beautifully. The pictures aren't very good but believe me, the sweet potatoes were. As long as I'm not making sweet potato fries, it's hard to go wrong with sweet potatoes.

Baked Parmesan sweet potatoes

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1-inch cubes
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Tarragon or parsley (I used tarragon)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Place garlic, oil, butter, salt, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning in a Ziploc bag and mix well.

3. Add sweet potato cubes and shake until well coated.

4. Place cubes onto cookie sheet in single, even layer. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until fork tender.

5. Serve warm and sprinkled with dried parsley if desired.

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