It’s national French fry day! If our daughter knew what food holidays were, this would absolutely be one of her favorites. Fries are her best friend. I’m not joking. We have to hide them whenever we make them or eat out to ensure she’ll eat the rest of her meal. She’s a very dedicated fry lady.
Knowing how much she loves little slices of potato, and realizing national french fry day was this week, I had to add homemade fries to one of our weeknight dinners. Not just any fries though, we celebrated with some Greek fries. That’s right, slices of russet potatoes marinated in olive oil, lemon and fresh oregano, and topped with feta and more lemon and oregano. Basically a Greek dance for our taste buds.
You may be thinking, how can baked fries taste good, I mean they’re like not even fried? But they do! By adding just the right amount of olive oil and baking them at 425 degrees, it is possible to make a healthier version that taste just as good as potatoes fried in oil! You just have to leave the skin on and be a little more patient.
It’s totally acceptable to eat these fries with a fork (I know, so unconventional), but I say this because it’s very important that you get a little bit of feta, lemon juice and fresh oregano with each bite. All of the flavors paired together create the absolute perfect combo and it’s essential that all of the notes hit your mouth at the same time. Wow, I’m such a food nerd.
Anyway, I hope you’ll be celebrating somehow – whether it’s visiting a drive-through or making one of your favorite recipes (cough, the one below, cough). Don’t forget to tag your photos with #marinamakeseats!
Baked Greek Fries
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, plus more for topping
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
- Juice of 1 1/2 lemons, plus more for topping
- 3 tablespoons of fresh oregano, plus more for topping
- 1 cup of crumbled fresh feta (or more if you’re a cheese lover like me)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Scrub the potatoes clean and using a cutting board, cut each potato in half. Cut each half into thin slices, and then each slice into match stick slices (see picture above).
Pat the sticks with a paper towel to absorb the water from the potatoes and place them in a freezer bag. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and oregano to the bag and shake to combine.
Lay fries on a couple of baking sheets, making sure there’s no overlap and that each fry is spaced out from the others. Bake the fries for about 45-50 minutes, flipping them after they’ve been in the oven for about 25 minutes. This ensures all sides will get crispy.
When they’re golden and crisp, take them out of the oven and top with a few pinches of salt, an extra squeeze or two of lemon juice, feta and fresh oregano.
Marina Makes 