Spiced sweet potato wedges with avocado dipping sauce

I like sweet potatoes and yams, but I can get really, really tired of them. And for the record, every single restaurant known to man, no, I don't want sweet potato fries rather than good old russet French fries...I really don't. It's just not the same. Here's my rule. No sweet potato fries to substitute for real fries, no mashed sweet potatoes (yuck), not a sweet potato pie fan, I don't really care for whipped, sweetened sweet potatoes during the holidays (although I will make an exception for Andy's sweet potatoes in the crock pot, and his Uncle Gary's, which are out of this world). But I love whole roasted sweet potatoes. And I do like par cooking them, cubing them and then sauteeing them in a scramble. That I do. Why? Because there are eggs present, and eggs win the day. And my hands down favorite form of sweet potatoes or yams are these Sprouted Kitchen spiced sweet potato wedges with an avocado dipping sauce. Every single person who has tried them has loved them. Every single one, except my two slightly psychotic children, but they don't count, because they hate all things sweet potato even before trying them.

I can never make enough of these when company comes over. They always disappear, I always get asked if there are more, and I always say I'll need to make 4 lbs. next time. Try these beauties...you won't regret it. And the beautiful and uber talented Sara Forte has not disappointed me yet, so if you haven't already bought her book, The Sprouted Kitchen, a tastier take on whole foods, you better run right out and get it...it's one of my favorites.

Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges with Avocado Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:

Potatoes:
2.5 lbs. sweet potatoes (about 4-5 medium potatoes)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
3 tbs fresh chopped rosemary
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste

1. Wash and cut potatoes into wedges. Preheat oven to 425 F.

2. In a large freezer sized zip-lock bag or a bowl, combine the potatoes and all other ingredients. Shake and massage the potatoes until all look evenly coated.

3. Place a baking rack on top of a jelly roll pan or other rimmed baking sheet. And place the wedges in a single layer. Make sure they don’t touch each other as they’ll steam and get mushy instead of crisping up. Bake for 30-35 minutes until tender in the center. If you don’t have a baking rack, just place the wedges on the sheet directly but be sure to flip them about half way through cooking.

Avocado Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
1.5 avocados
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
Few pinches of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Few pinches of chopped fresh chives
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Peel and pit both avocados. Dice the 1/2 avocado and set aside. In a bowl, combine the flesh of the whole avocado, the buttermilk, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, chives and salt and pepper.

2. Use a whisk to combine well or transfer to a blender and pulse to combine. Stir in the chopped avocado to give it a chunky texture.