Carrot Fries

I'm going to jump right in with a recipe for a healthy but TOTALLY DELICIOUS snack that I've been enjoying entirely too often. Maybe it's the fact that this is one of the easiest things I've ever made, or maybe it's how guilt free these fries are but either way I've been eating them by the batch.

The recipe is incredibly simple and you can find it almost anywhere if you google "carrot fries" (thank The Lord for the internet, right?) but I thought I'd post my take on the recipe anyways since it's something I've been eating so often.

A little background: I recently started the Paleo Diet, because I was inspired by a blog post about the 30 day paleo challenge. If you're interested you should click here. Anyways I didn't do the challenge laid out flawlessly for you in that blog because I'm less concerned with losing weight and more concerned with eating cleaner. Plus I'm a sucker for sweets and junk food, so when I found out about paleo spins on everyday recipes I couldn't resist.

These fries are totally paleo, there's barely any prep time, and they're wonderful to eat.

What you'll need is:

• Anywhere between 5-10 whole (I use ORGANIC) carrots (varies depending on how much you want to make)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder (optional)
• Italian seasoning (optional)

If you choose not to use the Italian seasoning I would definitely opt to use garlic powder instead, but I use them interchangeably. If you're feeling adventurous you could always use both.

The Italian seasoning I use is called Tuscany Blend, and it's actually a bread dipping sauce that's meant to go in olive oil, but I use it on literally everything. It's a great pasta topping, and if I'm short on time I throw it on pan fried chicken to make my cooking taste fancier. Feel free to improvise with your favorite seasoning instead.

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper

• Wash and peel each carrot
• Slice carrots once or twice horizontally until they're in pieces the length of a french fry
• Halve each carrot piece down the middle vertically, and then slice each half into small pieces about the width of a french fry (I usually go as thin as possible. The thicker they are the softer they'll be, and I like 'em crispier).
• Place the raw carrot fries onto the parchment paper, and spread them out (doesn't have to look pretty. Just make sure they're not in one big pile)
• Drizzle olive oil over the top of the carrot fries
• Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and additional seasonings onto carrot fries
• Bake in the oven for 24-30 minutes, pausing once halfway through to stir your fries around on the pan with a spatula (your bake time will depend HEAVILY on how big you made your carrot slices, and how crunchy you want them to turn out. I enjoy mine a little on the burnt side because then they're crunchier, but you will most likely need to play around with baking times until you get a batch just right. My first try was 24 minutes with very small thin carrot pieces, and that worked just fine. Later I tried 28 minutes with bigger carrot slices and they didn't get crispy enough so I should've left them in longer. Just guess and check.)

I actually whipped up a small batch today because I was in need of a fun snack, so I have a picture of the end result to show you, but I'm a horrible photographer. Oh well. I tried.

 Trust me, these are AMAZING.

I forced my sister to try one, and she enjoyed them even though she's a very picky eater.

I usually place them on a paper towel after I take them out of the oven because I overdo the olive oil a little bit, but that tends to make them a bit softer, so if you want the crunchiest fries I would leave them on the pan until they cool, and then drain them of their oils.