Recipe: Skinny Cheese Fries

When I saw this on last night, I knew I had to have it. Right then and there. It was love and first sight (and at first bite!). The post was originally blogged by Gina at Skinny Taste but, as always, I made some modifications to our liking. The sky's the limit with cheese fries - you could serve them with ketchup or sour cream instead of ranch to dip, you can top them with green onions, white onions, jalapenos, or just cheese and bacon. You could put chili on them if you're feeling really saucy! But the best part about these is that they're baked with just a tiny bit of olive oil, not deep fried, which means they work out to be around 300 calories per serving. Amazing!

This recipe is for two servings (we had it for dinner!), but you could easily multiply it for a crowd.

Ingredients

• 2 medium-to-large russet potatoes, washed
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 4 slices turkey bacon (only 25 calories each!)
• 1/4 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/8 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 
• Optional: jarred jalapeno slices; 1/4 white onion, finely chopped

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cover baking sheet with foil (for easy clean-up!) and spray lightly with cooking spray
3. After washing your potatoes, slice them into 1/4 inch thick slices, then slice those into 1/4 inch strips
4. In a medium bowl, coat potato strips in olive oil. Add spices, making sure to evenly coat the "fries" in oil and spices.
5. Bake "fries" on lined cookie sheet for 20 minutes, flipping once half-way through
      
6. While the fries are baking, cook and chop bacon. Prepare any other toppings you might like (ie: chop the onions or scallions)
    
7. Once fries are done baking, I recommend broiling (on High) for a minute or two to make them a little bit crispier. You could flip to make sure both sides are getting broiled.
8. Remove fries from baking pan into a small baking dish (I used an 8"x8" glass pan that worked fine but you could even do something smaller). Layer cheese, bacon and other toppings over each thin layer of fries to make sure they're all covered and smothered!
    
9. Place topped fries back in the oven to broil (on High) for a few minutes. Broilers are tricky, so you'll need to check every minute or so and pull out as soon as the cheese starts bubbling.
10. Serve with your choice of fat-free ranch or fat-free sour cream.

    

    I put jalapenos on my half and onions on B's half
    Because I'm sweet like that.