The Ravens won the Super Bowl, Beyonce gave an amazing half time performance (I think the best I’ve seen actually), the power went out and we’re already five days into the month of February. Man, time is flying by! And speaking of thyme, that was the main ingredient I used to make these delicious Paleo fries.
For the Super Bowl my friend Michelle and her husband Bob came over and we cooked up a menu full of food before the game. We started with one of Michelle’s dishes. She’s recently experimented with roasting celery and wanted to share the tastiness with us, so we roasted some vegetables (including celery) and she put together a warm quinoa salad when they were done.
Indian Style Butternut Fries
Next up we made some Indian inspired butternut fries. I typically peel most of my vegetables before roasting but Michelle doesn’t, so I decided to try out her method. We cleaned and sliced a butternut squash and seasoned them with a pinch of ginger, a teaspoon each of garam masala and curry powder and mixed it together with a tablespoon of melted coconut oil, a shake of fine salt and baked the fries for 45 minutes to an hour, till the outsides were starting to get crispy. I have to admit slicin’ and dicin’ the squash without having to peel the crazy shaped veggie definitely saved on time (and blood shed…the peeler is not my friend).
I made another batch of Everything But the Kitchen Sink Chili in the crock pot and started that a few hours before they arrived and served that with a side of Garlic Dill Paleo breadsticks and flat bread (made from the same recipe).
Michelle brought some crudités and we served that with a batch of Primal Onion dip. I modified the recipe from Mark Sisson’s new cookbook, Primal Blueprint Healthy Sauces, Dressings & Toppings.
We wrapped up the night with two raw desserts. I made raw kiwi bars and Michelle made raw apple pie.
What did your spread of food look like? Try any new recipes? Jeff said everything we served made a great combination and he gave our hard work an A+ :)
If the spiced butternut fries didn’t sound delicious enough maybe you’ll be a fan of these thyme seasoned fries. Typically I melt coconut oil and slather it all over the squash before I bake it but when I made this version I decided to try something new and use the oil in its solid form. Give it a try, these fries will make a perfect side.
Thyme for Butternut Squash Fries
Ingredients
- 1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound), peeled and seeded
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried french thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Directions Serves 2
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Cut peeled and seeded butternut squash into large chunk slices, about an inch thick and three inches long.
- Add cut squash to a medium to large size mixing bowl along with coconut oil, oregano, thyme, basil and salt.
- TIME TO GET DIRTY! Remove your rings and then dig in with your hands. Use both hands to mix everything well and get the coconut oil slathered all around.
- Lay each slice out on a drying rack over a baking tray so they do not touch.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- All ovens are different so after 30 minutes check if your fries are still mushy. You want them to be crispy around the edges. If they’re not there yet, no worries.
- Crank the oven up to 400°F and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Now they should be browning around the outside, but not burnt, and ready for you to remove from the oven. The centers will be softer and depending on the irregularity of your chopping skills the thinner ones may get black but they’re not burnt.
- Using tongs transfer the fries to a serving plate.
- Enjoy! :)