Allie Potatoes

My family calls me Allie, not Alex. That is - probably obviously - where these potatoes (or at least their predecessors) got their name.

When I was little, I'd stay over at my grandparents' house, and my grandfather would be posed with the challenging task of making a dinner I would eat. I was a super picky eater before about mid-high-school or so.

So one of the tried-and-true foods he figured out I loved no matter what you did to them was potatoes. This holds true today, but below, you will find my favorite method of preparing potatoes to be put into my mouth.

The original Allie potatoes were sliced thinly (but a little thicker than if you wanted crispy chips) not diced, and he used, if I remember correctly, garlic and onion powder and paprika. I use basically whatever spice I grab first. But the basic idea is still there, and it's totally customizable, which is one of the best things about it.

Allie Potatoes

Ingredients:
A potato (russet or white is what I usually go with)
Oil (vegetable oil is my favorite, or use canola, peanut, olive... whatever)
Spices/seasoning (literally whatever you want... in this batch I used Penzey's Sate seasoning which is just so oh-my-gosh-yum)

Equipment:
Cookie/baking sheet
Foil (optional for easier cleanup)
Plastic bag
Knife & cutting board for dicing potatoes
Oven

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375F. Dice your potatoes into even-sized pieces. (If you're cooking something else to go with it, make larger pieces if you need to use more time or smaller pieces if the other thing will cook faster.) Put them in the plastic bag. Add oil (enough to coat the potatoes) and spices/seasonings to the bag. Seal the bag and shake it up to evenly coat the potatoes. Open the bag and dump them onto a foil-lined baking sheet. (I also spray my foil with a little cooking spray but that's probably overkill... the oil usually keeps them from sticking.) Spread the potatoes out evenly on the sheet, and sprinkle with a little more seasoning. Bake for about 25-30 minutes (baking time will depend on the size of your potatoes... the pieces seen in the photo above - I know there's nothing there for scale - took 30 minutes).

Yields:
2 servings as a side (1 serving if you're a potato nut like me and could eat a bag of potatoes alone)

Total time:
a little over 30 minutes (depends on the size of your potato pieces)

Cleanup rating: 1/5
If you use foil, cleanup involves rinsing your knife and cutting board, and throwing away a plastic bag and a piece of foil. I would give it a 0/5 if that made sense.

Difficulty rating: 1/10
This is literally one of the handful of things I could make all by myself when I left for college. (I could make a lot of things after checking the details with my dad or grandfather, but this one is idiot-proof, or at least as idiot-proof as real cooking gets.)

Flavor rating: 10/10
This is one of my favorite foods, so of course I think it's a solid 10. Sometimes I try a new seasoning and it falls a little flat. My favorite is the basics: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and a little salt. This time, with the Sate seasoning, was really good too. I've also used taco seasoning, garlic and cumin, Italian seasoning from a package, nothing but salt... the possibilities are endless. Another great addition? Use one potato and one sweet potato. YUM.