Not Pomme Frites

Looks good, right? Yep. Who doesn’t like fries?! Seriously!

When I was a  kid my mom used to make home fries, you know – scrub, slice, oil, salt, oven. Really simple, yummy and best of all, home made. Considering I love potatoes so much, it’s surprising that I rarely make anything in “french fry” form. Probably haven’t for years in fact! Today though, today is different.

Today, while perusing through the market I popped a pair of beautiful roots in my basket, roots that I pretty much never buy. In fact, I could honestly say I only remember ever buying these lovelies once or twice before. For some reason when shopping for winter produce, I am so drawn to beets and carrots, potatoes (of course). Turnips? Parsnips? Nah…   Maybe because when it is cloudy and grey outside there is just nothing inspiring about eating a white vegetable. Something red! Yellow! Orange! Yes please! But white?
Anyway, as I was saying, today is different.  Inspired by all the pub fare going around in celebration of this years winter Olympics, I decided to make a couple of greener, healthier versions of the typical.  Enter, my two cutsie little turnips.

Organic, soft on the inside crispy crunchy on the outside. The perfect french fry, sans potato. Now, I know there are so many different ways to make a fry crispy in the oven. Some people use powdered plant starch, some use flours, butter and a really hot cast iron – I mean there are so many different ways and to me that really factors in to whether or not the end result is “healthy”.  The option I thought best for my frite treat, is quinoa. Raw and/or sprouted, I tried grinding it by hand in my pestle and mortar and ended up with quinoa everywhere. I don’t recommend that for anyone else. Second attempt, I busted out my handy dandy spice grinder and voila. Perfect bits of quinoa, some powdery and fine and some the same texture as course pepper. The best combination for coating fries!

Turnip Frites

2 Small(ish) Turnips
2 Tbsp Tri Coloured Quinoa
1 Tbsp Avocado Oil
Squeeze of Fresh Lemon
Pinch of Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400, wash the turnips and ready a bowl for mixing. Slice the turnips into whatever size desired, mine were about as long and wide as my ring finger. Add them to the bowl and coat with avocado oil. Using a clean pepper mill or spice grinder, grind about half of the quinoa over the oil coated turnip slices. Sprinkle with salt and a healthy amount of black pepper. Mix well. Continue grinding the quinoa over top until the strips are completely covered, then finish with the lemon juice.  Place on a baking sheet (lined or very lightly oiled) and bake for about 30-40 minutes. The turnip should be soft and still slightly crisp on the inside, with the quinoa coating nice and crunchy on the outside. Serve with homemade ketchup, sambal or whatever condiments you enjoy!