How To: Crunchy Baked Potato Wedges

One of my favorite junk foods are french fries - hot, golden brown and dunked in ketchup - my mouth is watering just writing about them.  But as we all know, fried potatoes aren't super high up on the health food list.  So of course, I've tried a million different ways to make healthy french fries at home.  But until recently, I could never get the crunchy exterior you find at restaurants.  They always came out with no crunch factor and most of the time ended up burnt onto my sheet pan.

So, when a dietitian at my internship hospital gave me the following recipe, I jumped at the chance to try something new.  It features a crazy sounding technique, but I swear, it's a potato miracle!  One batch of these delicious wedges barely made it a whole 24 hours in my house before somebody (possibly my husband) ate the entire tray.  You get super crunchy fries - and I mean crunchy...like you can hear them crunch in your mouth crunchy - and there is minimal added calories.  

But before I give you the secret recipe for these crunchified potatoes, I insist on some potato education.  Potato education?  Yes - because some of people have made the comment that potatoes are just empty carbohydrate calories that make you gain weight... Really guys?  Unfortunately, the low carb craze of the late '90's has forever put potatoes into the "evil carbohydrate" food group.  But for those of you who've ditched these delicious spuds, listen up to these nutrition stats:  for one small baked potato (no butter or sour cream) you're only getting 128 calories, but 22% of your daily Vitamin C, 3g of fiber, 21% of your daily Vitamin B6 and Potassium, and 10% of both Magnesium and Phosphorus.  Potatoes are literally a mineral warehouse - they got it all and lots of it.  So please, check out the recipe below for a new spin on potatoes - and enjoy their nutrition bounty!

Crunchy Baked Potato Wedges:

• 2 lbs Russet Potatoes cut into wedges or sticks
• 2 egg whites
• Salt and Pepper to taste (try out different spice blends too!)

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Line a large sheet tray with aluminum foil and set a wire cooling rack on top of the sheet - this allows the hot air in the oven to circulate around the potatoes preventing the bottom from becoming moist.  Add egg whites, salt and pepper to a large bowl.  With a wire whisk, beat the egg whites until frothy (no peaks here - see picture to the left).  Toss potatoes with egg white mixture and lay the wedges out evenly on the wire rack.  Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and tender.  If you like your potatoes a little darker, feel free to broil them for a few minutes!  Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.