I promise that when I wrote about street tacos last week, I had no idea that the following weekend there would be a Food Truck Festival in my own backyard. Because that would be too coincidental, right? However, I don’t think anyone will be complaining once they eat this bowl of (healthy!) spicy, herb-y, avocado-y loaded fries.

But first, let’s talk about the Food Truck Festival. Being vegan, I wasn’t all too enthusiastic about the potential offerings I would find at this festival… but it was a gorgeously bright May Saturday, and I really can’t stay away when food is in the offing. So I went, thinking I would just have to settle for some plain lemonade, when I saw the most beautiful sight in the world – a vegan food truck!!

I don’t even know where to begin to describe the Amor Food Truck  – do I start with the stunningly decorated truck? Or the three beautiful, impossibly cool women inside it? Or the AMAZING, mouth-watering menu?? I should probably start with the food (it is a food truck, after all).

Although Amor Food Truck has an expansive repertoire of vegan fare, their three main offerings for the day were a  beet slider, a sweet potato slider, and tofu bahn mi. I, of course, got all three!!

I was so inspired by these badass lady entrepreneurs – even though Hartford is not the most vegan-friendly city, these women brought their best to the table (literally) and had – arguably – the best food truck at the festival. Rock on!

Which brings me to these loaded street fries… After seeing all the amazing creations at the Food Truck Festival, I knew I wanted to recreate a classic street food that would also be healthy and delicious. One of the most ubiquitous offerings I saw at the festival were fries – but they were loaded with heavy gravy and greasy cheese. These fries, on the other hand – are light, spicy, fresh, and HEALTHY! Oven-baked paprika fries make the base, and are then topped with fresh avocado crema, with chopped herbs and baby kale. Once I was done photographing them, I all but inhaled this bowl of potato + avocado deliciousness.

I would be remiss if I didn’t write something about this avocado crema – inspired by Mexican sour cream, this mouth-watering green sauce is surprisingly refreshing and flavorful (and completely dairy-free!). Also, I should mention that this crema doubles amazingly as a dip – when taste-testing the recipe, I almost ate the entire batch as a dip for my carrots. It may be one of my favorite sauces I’ve ever made.