Roasted Potato Bites

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved tater tots. Not to go all Napoleon Dynamite on you (I absolutely hate everything about that movie), but those were my tots! There was just something about those little potato morsels that were irresistible.

Now, I don't claim that these are anywhere near tater tots, because they're not. But they are little potato bites, and they're pretty darn tasty. My son let them go swimming in a pool of fry sauce (if you're not from Utah, that's a mixture of mayo and ketchup), but they were just fine by themselves. Even better, perhaps. I like fry sauce just as much as the next chick, but you really don't need fry sauce here. This is basically the ingredients for my baked french fries, the difference being the shape of the cut potato. They're a bit easier to cut this way.

I used six Russet potatoes from a 10lb bag and it worked out to be enough for one mom and three hungry males.

Ingredients:
6 Russet potatoes
2 T. olive oil
Chili powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

Scrub potatoes really well. We're keeping the skins on, and unless you like eating dirt, scrub the crap out of them.

Cut potatoes in thirds lengthwise, then cut the thirds in half lengthwise. Cut the slices into cubes about the same size long as they are wide. Put into a large mixing bowl.

Drizzle olive oil over potatoes and use tongs to toss, coating all the potato cubes. Sprinkle seasonings as desired. I didn't measure this time, but it was probably about a tablespoon each of the chili powder and paprika, and probably in the neighborhood of a teaspoon each of the onion powder, salt and pepper. Toss the potatoes until well coated with the seasonings. Add a little more if necessary. My mom used to say, "You can always add more, but it's really hard to take it out." Keep this in mind as you're adding the seasonings to the potatoes.

Arrange potato pieces in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Put in the oven and roast for 30 to 45 minutes, or until fork tender and brown. Serve immediately, with or without fry sauce.