I've been trying to use different vegetables to make fries more often recently, because potatoes seem to be oddly expensive here at the minute. I love sweet potato fries but they're even more expensive than regular potatoes are. However, I can get a huge bag of carrots for much less money, and I've also tried zucchini fries. I found both of them were a great alternative to using potatoes! Have you tried using any different vegetables to make fries in a bid to save money? How did they turn out?
We have tried zucchini just for an experiment but it's kinda soggy. With spinach leaves, we are quite successful. But it's not plain spinach leaves though, it is dipped in a flour mixture to have the crunchy texture. And for the dip, anything that is good for nachos is also good for spinach fries. And when there is no spinach, the water hyacinth can also be used for that purpose. It is locally called Kangkong, a chinese vegetable.
I have used zucchini before and they turned out great. I have seen lots of different variations on Pintrest which is where I got the recipe for the zucchini fries. I was at a restaurant that made avocado fries. They were the most tasty thing I have ever had. They had a batter on them so if you are going for healthy options that one is not what you are looking for but they were good. I want to try making Kale chips because I love kale but I always forget to make them when I have it.
Thanks for the great ideas. I will have to try zucchini fries. Do you bake them? I've tried making sweet potato fries and they are good, not as good a regular fries though. I have added grated zucchini to grated potatoes and made potato pancakes. My kids don't even know there are zucchinis in the potato pancake. I'm always looking for ways to up their veggie intake. I just did a search and found this great website that tells you how to make veggie chips - beets, zucchini, radish etc.Log In
I have only tried sweet potato fries, they tasted good but where soggy. My oil may not have been hot enough when I put the potatoes in the oil. I tasted fried pickles at one of the stores that was giving out samples. I love pickles but they will not be fried.
I stopped by for a bit of learning for I love french fries too. I've been reading about yukon gold potatoes that just went on sale for .99 on Oahu's Times Supermarket, so I did try them for my corn beef hash that I mix can corn beef and fry them up in olive oil & they were great! I bought more for I love corn beef hash mix with yukon gold potatoes now it was 1.99 a pound! I've tried red potatoes and they are good for frying as well, but fry up faster than any potato I've cooked, so watch when you fry them or bake them. I love both red and yukon gold potatoes now and they are supposed to be healthier for you. This is the yukon gold potatoes. image fromLog In * More informtation about yukon gold potatoes:Log In These are red potatoes. image fromLog In * More information about red potatoes:Log In
I have tried it but honestly none of them compare to potato fries and I didn't really pick them because they were cheaper and instead I just wanted to experiment. I think if you want to get a similar effect with different ingredients you could just try out doing a vegetable tempura, which I absolutely love because I hate the original ingredient - shrimp. I know it's different from fries but in my opinion it's a lot better suited for the other vegetables and it's not that far off since it's almost the same amount of effort to deep fry them anyway.
I have tried eating sweet potato fries. Sweet potatoes are common in my part of the world so we experiment on them a lot. Transforming them into fries is one of those innovations. The only difference is that potatoes are less sweet so when you fry them, you have to add salt, whereas sweet potatoes will always taste sweet however you cook them.
@purplepen88 I do bake the zucchini fries. I find they're good if you add a little bit of bread crumb style coating to them, too. You can add some seasonings to the bread crumbs for added flavor. I've done it with a little grated cheese on them too and those turned out pretty good. I find if you fry them they do get too soggy and soak up the oil a bit too much. I love the idea of the fritters made with grated zucchini too! I've done potato and sweet potato fritters but somehow I hadn't thought to try them with zucchini!
I haven't done it by hand but I love Trader Joes Mushroom fries. These are nice thick Portobello slices with a thin layer of batter. These can go in the broiler...no oil necessary...and they cook with nice crispy edges.
