Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I've tried to make baked sweet potato fries several times with bad results. It's difficult to get them crispy in the oven. On my quest, I found a few recipes calling for cornstarch, which I thought was odd but gave it a shot. The first time I made this recipe, they were great. The second time, I used too much cornstarch and they were not good. ("Chalky" is not a good adjective to describe food) The third time, I measured out only 1 TBSP of cornstarch and they were great again. Chris hates sweet potatoes and actually enjoyed these. I served them with some Sriacha mayo (like the recipe) but they are good with ketchup too. Hope you enjoy!

Green Chile Rice

This is another one of my most-requested recipes from my Mom. It is such a yummy side dish but I don't make it often because it is not the healthiest. Lucky for you (and me), I swapped out the sour cream for Greek yogurt  last time I made it and it worked! Not only did it work, I think it might almost be better than the sour cream version. The rice seemed fluffier and lighter with the yogurt. Which ever route you choose to go, I definitely recommend trying this dish. It's great to make-ahead too - you can just assemble the whole thing and refrigerate until you're ready to bake. I don't know the source of this recipe - I have it written down in my recipe book from one of my Mom's cookbooks.

Spicy Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Kabobs

I found out through my Chicken Tikka Masala recipe that yogurt is a great marinade for chicken. It sounds gross, right? Cooking dairy? It's actually not gross at all - quite the opposite. The enzymes in the yogurt really tenderize the chicken and the tang adds a lot of flavor. Of course, you need to add way more flavor to the yogurt to season the chicken and this recipe does just that. The recipe comes from Bon Appetit and is a great reason to fire up the grill. You might chop of some veggies, toss them around with olive oil, salt and pepper, skewer them and grill alongside this chicken.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

This is a super easy recipe for an impressive dessert. They only take a few minutes to prep and can sit in the fridge until you're ready to cook them. They'd be great for a dinner party since you could pop them in the oven when you sit down to eat so they'll be ready when you are. The recipe comes from Simply Recipes but I replaced the mint with vanilla. Let me know if you try the mint though - I bet it is yummy too.