You say potato, I say batata! I’ve mentioned before that one of my goals for 2011 is to try at least one new-to-me fruit or vegetable each month. I’m having a ton of fun with this goal—so far I’ve tried edamame, yellow cherry tomatoes, figs, parsnips, and most recently, batatas!
I stumbled upon batatas last week while perusing the produce aisles of the Disneyworld of grocery stores, Wegmans. The veggie’s strong resemblance to a regular sweet potato caught my eye, and, as it turns out, a batata is a Caribbean sweet potato.
Since oven fries are my favorite way to enjoy potatoes, I decided to give the batata a try in fry form. The fries worked out great – I found them to have a somewhat nuttier taste than a traditional sweet potato.
I’m definitely adding batatas to my potato rotation! For fun, I’ve included what I find to be the best way to prepare oven fries. Enjoy!
Batata Fries
Serves 2
- 2 small batatas, cleaned
- 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Heat oven to 450 degrees F.
Cut batata crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Fill medium saucepan with water; place cut batata slices in water. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to medium and cook until potatoes are nearly fork tender. Remove from stove; drain.
Toss batata slices with garlic salt and oil. Plase on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 16 to 20 minutes, turning batatas half way through cooking, until crisp.
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I love to try new “agricultural” finds in the local Farmers Market or grocery! I will definitely try this (if I can find one)! Tried a new fruit last week that looked like a “squashed” banana, but don’t remember the name. Once it was rippened — it was delicious!
A squashed banana, that sounds interesting… did it taste like a banana?
Yes it did! Once it ripened — took about a week — I cut into it. It looked like a wider version of a ripe plaintain — but had the distinct flavor of a banana with a little more texture of a plaintain. It was very good. I even used a little in a smoothy for added sweetness and it whipped up just fine!