As you can imagine, my favorite part about skiing is long, leisurely lunching and the hunger you feel at the end of the day. It's a deserving hunger, a hunger I also get when I run long distances or take a really brutal workout class. I reward myself with a big, delicious lunch and dinner because my body needs it and my soul wants a little pat on the back.

When I have that kind of hunger, I like things that are hearty and filling like these loaded sweet potato and root veggie fries. I am so happy to be seeing things like kale and quinoa salads on almost every menu out here this week, and healthy options at many of the restaurants. I would love for places to take it one step further and add things like shiitake bacon an option over real bacon … baked sweet potato fries as an option for regular french fries. Things are definitely moving the the right direction, maybe that won't be such a stretch someday.

loaded sweet potato ( + root vegetable) fries with shiitake "bacon" + garlic tahini

For these loaded, baked fries, I used a variety of root vegetables in addition to sweet potatoes. Celery root, turnip, rutabaga, all make delicious additions to this, but if you want to play it simple you can use all sweet potatoes. Shiitake bacon is one of the coolest tricks you can do with a vegetable, and this dish screams for them. If you've never tried it before, this is a great way to get into it and start making them.



SERVES

a few people as an appetizer or snack

INGREDIENTS

for the skiitake bacon:

2 cups of shiitakes, sliced lengthwise

1-2 teaspoons of braggs amino acid (or tamari, or a low sodium soy sauce)

for the fries:

1 large sweet potato, sliced into wedges that resemble thick-cut french fries

1 celery root, sliced into wedges

1 turnip, sliced into wedges

a drizzle of olive oil

salt + pepper

a sprinkling mix of dried herbs such as parsley, oregano, rosemary, thyme

some red pepper flakes or cayenne if you like spice

a sprinkling of cornmeal

for the tahini:

1/3 cup of tahini

1/3 cup of water

1 garlic clove, minced

the squeeze of 1/2 a lemon

1/4 teaspoon of salt

a tablespoon of nutritional yeast (if you want a slight cheese flavor)

a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

for some additional toppings:

2 green onions, sliced thin

1 mild, red chili, seeded and diced

some micro greens

METHOD

Make the shiitake bacon:

Pre-heat the oven to 300º.

On a parchment lined baking sheet, toss the shiitake slices with the braggs amino acid (or tamari/soy).

Bake for 50 mins to 1 hour, tossing the shrooms every 15 minutes or so. You want them to become very very crispy and dry (think bacon bits). Set aside to cool, while your making the fries.

While the shiitake bacon is cooking, make the tahini and prep the sweet potatoes and root veggies:

Place all of the ingredients for the tahini into a blender, and blend until it is smooth. Taste, and adjust any seasoning as necessary.

On a large parchment lined baking sheet, very lightly drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and toss to coat. Then sprinkle the salt, pepper, and herbs of your choice over the fries and toss again. Lastly, sprinkle a dusting of cornmeal over the veggies and toss to coat. You want a thin layer of cornmeal over the fries, this will make them nice and crispy, but be careful not to overdo the cornmeal.

Bake the veggie fries, and assemble: