Trickery is a parents best friend. Getting kids to explore different types of food is usually a long shot. When it comes to “fries” in this house, we are addicted to using sweet potatoes. Calling them fries always turns the boys heads, and they are consistently gladly eating them with their dinners. Switching it up a bit, this recipe called for parsnips and butternut squash. The parsnips were not our favorite (at all), so we are going to act like they are not in the picture, because they ended up straight in the garbage! The butternut squash fries however, turned out so delicious we ate nearly the entire pan for dinner. I paired these sweet fries with a simple homemade dill dip. Make these and hopefully your family can start swapping regular baked frozen french fries for a side that is beyond healthier, and far tastier if we say so ourselves.
Ingredients:
- 1 butternut squash (cut off top, save bulb for another day)
- extra virgin olive oil (few tablespoons)
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Dill Dip:
- mayo
- fresh dill
- kosher salt and pepper
- lemon juice
- garlic powder
Directions:
Pre heat the oven to 400* line a large baking sheet with foil and spritz with nonstick spray
Cut the bulb off of the butternut squash, save it for another day. Peel the skin off of the top of the squash and slice it in half. Take each half and cut into smaller slices whichever way you would like. Medium sticks, or wedges will do. Be careful slicing, use a sharp knife! Place the squash fries onto the baking sheet, coat them with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, toss together until each “fry” is coated.
Bake them at 400* for 25 minutes. Turn once, then turn the heat up to 450* for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until they take on a nice golden hue.
The dip is made to your liking, I rarely measure dips! About 1/2 cup mayo, 1/4 cup chopped dill, pinch of salt – pepper – garlic powder, and juice of 1/2 a lemon. Stir, and serve along side the fries.
Recipe tweaked from: