Texas Cheese Fries

I confess that when I first heard about these cheese fries, all I could picture was a nasty plate of fried potatoes covered in Velveta-like orange cheese. I have never been a fan of cheese or gravy on my fries. The fact that I eat very few fries in the first place made me just dismiss this recipe. Then I read a few "reviews" on the Weight Watcher message boards and decided to check out the recipe. I do make oven-baked sweet potato fries or Italian-seasoned fries on occasion, so I decided to give these a try.

Texas Cheese Fries 
from Skinnytaste.com 
Servings: 2 • Serving Size: 1/2 • Old Points: 6 pt • Points+: 7 pt
Calories: 259 • Fat: 12.3 g • Protein: 10.1 g • Carb: 29 g • Fiber: 2.9 g • Sugar: 1.4 g
Sodium: 590.5 mg (without salt) 


Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes (2/3 lb total), yukon gold or russet, washed and dried (skin on)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 1 slice center cut bacon, cooked & finely chopped
• 1/3 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese (I used reduced fat Mexican blend)
• 2 tbsp diced scallions
• 1 tbsp sliced pickled Jalapeno (I omitted these)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°. Line baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up. Lightly coat with cooking spray.

Cut each potato lengthwise into 1/4 inch thin slices; then cut each slice into 1/4 inch fries.
In a large bowl, combine cut potatoes and oil; toss well. Add seasoning (paprika to salt and pepper). Toss to coat. Spread in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes, turn over, and bake another 15-25 minutes. Remove from oven, place fries into two small oven safe dishes (or one large dish for sharing), top with cheese, scallions and bacon bits and return to oven for  about 2 minutes, or until the cheese melts.
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TASTE NOTES

While I normally don't "spend" 7 points on a side dish, by carefully planning what I eat with them, I am able to minimize the damage somewhat (e.g. a turkey burger without the bun, steamed seafood). These "fries" are very tasty and the portion size will leave you feeling satisfied, but not stuffed. There is not a lot of cheese on these, so maybe next time I will use regular cheese (since that's what the points are calculated on).I've already made these twice, so I am really recommending them.  In the future, I would serve these as an appetizer at a BBQ, the taste is that good. So go ahead and indulge!