Oven Fries Gone Hash

We made some plain-skinless oven fries for Thomas ... He looooved them!

While pregnant I developed a crazy craving (well, more like a desire...) for french fries and ice cream ... We kept a giant bag of fries in the freezer (probably in part because they were so easy to make for dinner) and I think I ate an ice cream cone/ice cream in a coffee mug every night of my 3rd trimester ...

Once I joined weight watchers, both ice cream and french fries were thrown out of the freezer (not literally ... we just stopped buying them).  Instead, when craving fries, we reach for whole potatoes ... and we roast our own.

I regret not taking any pictures, because not only are these oven fries delish, they are pretty, easy, and filling .. with a fraction of the ingredients list you might see on the back of those frozen fries.

Oven Fries -
Cut your potatoes into what ever shape you'd like - We go the traditional "fry" shape, and I try to get them pretty thin .. you could also do wedges, discs, if you have a criss-cross-cutter you could even do waffle fries ...

Rinse your potatoes once they are cut and plop them onto a dish towel to dry them a bit ... we're roasting, not steaming ... Once a bit dry, put them into a bowl and drizzle with some olive oil (about 1T, more or less depending on your flava-flave).

From here, add what ever spices you'd like ... we always go for cayenne pepper (just a smidge), salt, pepper and parsley (fresh or dried) ... but you could also go for rosemary, parsley, oregano, chive, etc.

Sprinkle your potatoes across a cookie sheet (a cooling rack works great here, mine just isn't large enough) and bake them at 375* for about 15 minutes.  Check 'em. Flip 'em. Set your timer for another 15-20 minutes, or until they are as crisp as you'd like them to be.

Voila! Oven Fries!

Be sure to make extra ... so you can make this awesome breakfast/brunch Ry and I just threw together ...

Oven Fries Gone Hash -

Dice up a variety of vegetables - bell pepper, mushrooms, onion, zucchini, what ever you'd like or what ever you've got lingering in your refrigerator.

Pull out the left-over oven fries and put a rough chop on them.

Add some meat if you'd like ... we had some creepy turkey ham lingering in the fridge from boiled dinner a few nights ago ... so we went that route.  It's also a weight watchers friendly meat, why, I'll never know.  It's creepy.  You could also add some left over roasted chicken, bacon, steak, what ever you've got.

Saute your veggies in a teaspoon-or-so of olive oil.  Once they are tender/translucent, add in the ham and fries.  Salt your veggies if you'd like (depending on the saltyness of your fries, I can imagine), and add your fries and optional meat.  Saute saute saute ... until warmed through.

At this point I decided to add some Rojo seasoning ... I bought it at Penzey's in December ... we received it as a gift when we were married as a part of Penzey's Taco Seasoning gift box   - which created a monster out of us (check out all of their gift box options - they come beautifully sprinkled with bay leaves, whole nutmeg and cinnamon sticks). We love Penzey's.  Their bold chicken taco is also fabulous ... what a great gift!  Either way - the rojo combined with the veggies, ham, cayenne-potato-wedges ... it was FABULOUS.  I added about 1T.  If you are Rojo-less ... add what ever you'd like to your pan - pepper, paprika, your choice.

This is where you have a choice.  You can mix your eggs up scrambled-egg-style (# of eggs, splash of milk, whisk), or you can plop them on top.  I decided to plop them on top.  If you plop them on top, add about 1/3 cup water to your pan and cover it with a snugly fitting lid for a few minutes until your eggs are done to your liking.  (Ryan reminded me to add the water .. so kind of him .. so ours wound up covered for about 10 minutes ... 7 w/steam, 3 with out ... so I don't have a time recommendation here )= sorry!)  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese, warm up a little corn tortilla or two ...

And you have a fabulous brunch!  (**wound up being 8 points for the meal - 3 for the oven roasted potato wedges, 5 for the veggie/egg/creepy turkey ham hash)

We both agreed this was waaay too much food ...