Last summer my friend Mary told me that she swore by eating homemade sweet potato fries the night before a race.  I decided to give sweet potatoes a try, and was pleased to discover that my stomach did well with them.

For the rest of the summer I made sweet potato wedges before each race and had an outstanding racing season.  I trained hard and give my training routine 99% of the credit, but not needing to stop with stomach issues during my races certainly helped.

I packed a Ziploc bag of sweet potato wedges in a cooler for Ragnar DC last fall and ate a small serving about an hour before each of my legs.  In addition to the other careful food choices I made, I seemed to be well fueled throughout the race.  After telling my Ragnar Trail Appalachians team that I would be doing the same for our upcoming race, I promised to share my recipe prior to our big day.

I originally got this recipe from my friend Vel several years ago, and she thinks she got it from Cooking Light.  I’ve made a few changes to the recipe over the years (mainly switching from thyme to Rosemary), but I still can’t take credit for coming up with this healthy and delicious recipe. It’s too good; however, not to share with my teammates and my readers.

When selecting my sweet potatoes, I try to find  straight ones to make it easier to cut into fry shaped wedges.  After a thorough washing, I cut the larger blemishes off, but leave on the high-fiber nutritious skin.

SweetPotatoes
 

Like all of my other roasted veggies, sweet potato wedges are easy to make and require just a few ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

  • Sweet potatoes
  • Pure olive oil (often called grilling olive oil – withstands higher temperatures)
  • Fresh sprigs (or dried) Rosemary
  • Coarse salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

SweetPotatoWedgesIngredients
 

I grow my own Rosemary for this and a few other favorite recipes.  Dried Rosemary can be used, but freshly chopped has much more flavor.

ChoppedThyme
 

After slicing the sweet potatoes into wedges, I toss them in olive oil and spread them out on a baking sheet covered with non-stick Reynolds Wrap.  Once on the baking sheet, I sprinkle on the salt and Rosemary, and then grind black pepper over the wedges.

I put the sweet potatoes into a preheated 450° oven and roast for approximately twenty-five minutes, usually turning half way through.  Keep in mind that larger wedges might take a few minutes longer to become crisp.

SweetPotatoWedgesPan
 

Serve fresh from the oven while hot; or as I discovered while running Ragnar, these sweet potato wedges are delicious cold!

SweetPotatoWedgesPoster
 

In case you want to hang onto this simple, yet delicious recipe, I’ve made a recipe card for you to print out and file with your other favorite recipes. Enjoy!

 

[yumprint-recipe id=’5′] 

 

  • Questions:
  • Do you like sweet potatoes?
  • What is your favorite summer veggie?
  • Approximately how many servings of veggies do you eat daily?