Liz Adair's No-Joes, A Healthy French Fry Alternative

I tend to avoid all things carbohydrate. I do it for my thighs. It’s not sugar so much as bread that is my downfall. I absolutely adore bread and could live on bread alone. The scriptures say that man cannot live by bread alone, so I and my thighs take that very seriously.


But every now and then I will relent in my no-carbs-in-the-house crusade and bring home a potato or two.



I think potatoes have been given a bum rap in the last decade or so about being unhealthy. The Potato Council nutrition page shows that potatoes are a good source of: • Vitamin C • Vitamin B1 • Vitamin B6 • Folic acid • Iron and • Potassium. They definitely count in the 5 servings of vegetables and fruits we are encouraged to eat every day. I think it must be the way they’re prepared and served that is so unhealthy: fried or slathered in sour cream. Mmm-mmm. It doesn’t get any better than that.

But, the Adair household is dedicated to healthy eating, and I’ve come up with a healthy French fryesque way of fixing potatoes that go great with hamburgers. (Can you mention healthy eating and hamburgers in the same breath?) Anyway, I call these potatoes No-Joes. It’s Jo-Joes minus the grease.


Here’s how you do it:

Arrange both racks in your oven to be in the bottom half. Preheat the oven to 450 while you’re fixing the potatoes.


Figure one small or medium sized potato per person.

Scrub the potato, then slice it into ¼-inch-thick slices. You’ll end up with lots of circles.

Spray a flat baking pan with cooking spray and arrange the circles close together and salt them liberally. Put in the pan on the bottom rack and let it cook for 10 minutes.


Move the pan to the top rack (located about mid-oven) and turn on the broiler.

This is where you need to check them frequently, for you want the potatoes to be just nicely browned. If you get involved in something else you can end up with miniature hockey pucks.


You can see that I did some sweet potatoes. I peeled them first, but they're wonderful done this way, too.


If you’re feeding a crowd, you can do several pans on the bottom shelf, set them aside and then do the broiling step so you can have plenty in a lot less time.

Bring out the ketchup, and enjoy. Your thighs will thank you.

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