Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeds removed (about 10 ounces for 1 person)
• Salt
• Scallions
• Turkey bacon (2 slices should so yah)
• Optional: fat free ranch dressing

How To

With a crinkle cutter of large kitchen knife, cut the squash into French fry size strips. Don’t get in a tizzy if the strips aren’t all perfectly straight. That’s kinda hard to do when you’re working with half-moon shaped squash halves. Don’t make the strips too thin.

Once strips are cut, lay them out on paper towel and pat to remove extra moisture. Adding salt to the squash strips will help draw out the moisture from the squash pulp. Sprinkle strips with salt (I like to use coase sea salt) and let sit for 7-8 minutes and then give one final pat with paper towel.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and fire up the oven to a temperature of 425 degrees. Arrange a single layer of the strips on the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Flip the fries halfway through baking. You want them to be crispy on the outside.

While the fries bake, cook the bacon strips in a fry pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. It doesn’t take much time for turkey bacon to cook through. Just be sure it’s nice and crispy. Remove from pan and cut each strip in half and then cut into thin strips lengthwise.

Serve fries hot from oven with the bacon and drizzle with fat free ranch dressing. Srpinkle with chopped scallions.

Tips

You can make your own ranch dressing by mixing fat-free sour cream with dry ranch dressing mix (the kind sold in packets). Add 1/2 teaspoon dry mix to 1/3 to 1/4 cup sour cream. Mix well and refridgerate until ready to use.

Fries should be served right from the oven. Squash retains alot of water in it’s pulp. Make sure you draw out as much water using the salt method. This will give you crispier fries. If the baked frie sit too long, they become soggy. They’ll still taste good, but won’t be crispy.

Calories: 10 ounce serving with toppings is in the neighborhood of 230 to 240 cals