reason #159

There are many reasons why I love working from home. Last week I discovered another one.

One afternoon I decided that I wanted to try a recipe for a warm salad made with sweet potatoes, red onions, and chickpeas. Considering that Michael will only eat one of the three previously mentioned ingredients, I had no intention of making it for dinner. In fact, he gives me such a hard time about any kind of beans that I’ve stopped trying to sneak them into things. By being home for lunch, I can make all the gross-but-good-for-you meals involving beans, eggplant, sweet potatoes, and squash that I want.  I was in heaven this week when I ate beans and rice for lunch every day. (Maybe my idea of luxury needs to be slightly refined. Hmm…)

The salad turned out great. I changed it quite a bit from the original recipe (which called for butternut squash, tahini and mint, none of which I had on hand.) I’m really bad about measuring, and I made this last week so I might be forgetting something, but here’s my best guess at what I did.

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Salad, serves about 4

3 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 a red onion, diced

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

fresh basil, chopped

2 tbs olive oil

1-2 tbs balsamic vinegar

salt/pepper to taste

Coat the sweet potato cubes in 1/2 of the olive oil (about 1 tbs) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 375 for about 35-45 minutes. After the sweet potatoes are done, combine them in a bowl with the chickpeas and red onions. In a medium bowl, mix the balsamic vinegar and the other tbs. of olive oil (can use flaxseed oil if desired) along with the basil and additional pepper. Drizzle over the potato/chickpea mixture. The salad is great warm or cold.