I was really looking forward to eating this salad. It looks appealing, tastes “superb” and is easy to toss together at the spur of the moment. It can be eaten as a stand-alone main meal or as a side dish, which is how I served it up alongside a freshly made lasagne from Lisa at Locantro Fine Foods. 


The recipe evolved as I moved between peering into the pantry and the almost empty fridge. Tomorrow is my main fresh grocery shopping day, so by Wednesday night the fruits, vegetables and small goods have twiddled significantly. I still had a large bag of deep orange sweet potato which I had intended to turn into a soup. Alas this did not eventuate, so this versatile veg really needed to be incorporated into “something” by the end of the working week. 

The result is my Superb Spiced Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Tomato Salad. I had to physically remove the dish from the table so as not to continue eating my way through the leftovers, it tastes THAT GOOD. The textures tantalise the tastebuds, the colours have visual appeal and the aroma from the cumin and coriander make the mouth water. 

Oh and if you have a tendency to cross the room to avoid eating chickpeas thinking they are bland and boring, then think again. Flavour leaps from every mouthful, with hits of heat from the jalapeno chillies and a wholesome nutty taste from the chickpeas which add protein and substance to the dish. 



Superb Spiced Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Tomato Salad to serve 6 people as a side dish or entrée or 3 – 4 as a main meal. 

3 medium sized sweet potatoes – washed, peeled and diced into 2 cm cubes 
1 baby fennel sliced into eighths
olive oil
sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cloves garlic crushed
juice of a small lemon
2 large ripe Roma tomatoes diced into 2 cm pieces
1 x 400 g tin of chickpeas (I use an organic variety)
1 plump jalapeno chilli medium/hot sliced into thin rounds
1 cup of fresh coriander leaves roughly chopped
Greek style yoghurt to serve. 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees fan forced. 

Put the sweet potatoes, fennel, olive oil, sea salt to taste, cumin and garlic into a ceramic or glass baking dish and combine. Roast for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven when ready and set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly.  

Add all the other ingredients (except for the yoghurt) and gently combine. Dollop the yoghurt over the top of the salad just before serving. This can be eaten warm, or at room temperature with extra yoghurt offered to diners.