Super Side Dishes

Carmelized yams hot out of the oven and tossed with fresh parsley.

The crispy garlic fries — It's hard to believe that they were made from scratch last minute and baked, not fried.

Crispy oven-baked chicken was the main entree today at the Wednesday Community Meal but it was the side dishes that really stood out - caramelized oven-roasted yams and garlic fries.

The latter was a last minute thing we threw together when we realized we were running out of yams. Volunteers Davis and Joe worked fast peeling potatoes and Kate cut them into fries.

We then soaked the fries in salted water to remove excess starch and then transferred them to a towel and patted them dry. Then it was into a bowl where we tossed them with oil, garlic powder and kosher salt.

Before we put them onto sheet pans for baking, we preheated the pans in a hot 425-degree oven and then coated them with nonstick cooking spray and a bit of oil. This technique keeps the potatoes from sticking to the pan as they bake.

If you remember the saying "hot pan, cold oil," you won't have to worry about food sticking as it cooks.

After about 20 minutes in the oven, the garlic fries looked so good- golden brown and crispy.

Thanks should be given to The Oregon Food Bank and Food Front Cooperative Grocery in Hillsdale who donated the yams and potatoes. We served 296 meals today.