Healthy Comfort Food

Craving comfort food? Treat yourself to baked sweet potato fries with olive oil. They’re packed with fiber, beta-carotene and vitamin C.

Not all comfort food is bad for you. Sweet potatoes are a nutritional powerhouse — so much so that the nutrition scientists at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) rank the orange tuber number-one in good-for-you vegetables.

The reason? For starters, they’re loaded with carotenoids, antioxidants that have been associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease, cancer and other diseases. Sweet potatoes are also chock-full of fiber, which helps keep their glycemic index lower than all other root vegetables. Indulge guilt-free by making baked sweet potato fries. Slice potatoes length-wise into half-inch-wide blocks.

Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper (you can also add other spices, like cayenne pepper or basil), and lay in a single layer on a foil-covered cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, flipping them every 10 minutes.