Baked beet & Sweet Potato fries with peppercorn Mayo

Oven baked root vegetables male colourful and flavourful French fries and add interest to the meal as a side dish or appetizer. Seek out the very large beets to make it easier to cut the fries. Just be sure to cut them in half first, then place the cut side down so you can apply firm pressure on the knife and cut neatly and safely into sticks. Three kinds of pepper mixed into the mayonnaise makes a zesty and luscious dip

Ingredients

1/2 cup (125 ml) soya vegan mayonaise
1 tsp (5 ml) pink peppercorns, crushed
1/2 tsp (2 ml) drained green peppercorns, crushed
1/4 tsp (1 ml) coarsely ground black pepper
2 large beets, about 1 lb (500 g) trimmed
2 tbsp (25 ml) olive oil
sea salt or fleur de sel
1 large sweet potato, about 1 lb (500 g)


1. Combine mayonnaise, pink peppercorns, green peppercorns and black pepper in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving, up to 1 day.

2. Preheat oven to 400F (200C) with racks positioned in the bottom and top third of oven. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Trim off leaf stalks from beets(reserving for another use if desired) and trim off long tap roots. Peel beets and rinse. Cut length-wise into sticks, each about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. Toss with half of the oil, 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt and ground pepper to taste. Spread out on 1 prepared baking sheet, leaving space between each fry. Bake beets on lower rack of oven for 20 minutes or until starting to get tender.

4 Meanwhile, peel sweet potato and rinse. Cut in half crosswise, then cut into sticks, each about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. Toss with remaining oil, 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt and ground pepper to taste. Spread out on remaining baking sheet, leaving space between each.

5. Remove beets from oven and flip each fry over on the sheet. Return to upper rack in oven and place sweet potatoes on lower rack. Bake for about 30 minutes, flipping sweet potatoes halfway, or until beets are tender and sweet potatoes are browned and tender.

6. Season fries with salt and serve with peppercorn mayonnaise in small bowls for dipping.

Serves 4