Description
This roasted chickpea salad features sweet potato, avocado, sunflower seeds, and lemon tahini sauce. It’s creamy, flavourful and packed with flavor and nutrition. Enjoy for a healthy, filling, plant-based meal.
Ingredients
For the Roasted Chickpeas
- 1 19 oz can chickpeas, rinsed, drained and dried
- 1/2 tsp olive or avocado oil
- a sprinkle of salt and pepper
For the Roasted Sweet Potato
- 1 medium to large sweet potato
- 1 tsp olive or avocado oil
For the Lemon Tahini Sauce
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 4–8 tbsp water to reach desired consistency
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
For the Kale Salad
- 4 large handfuls of de-stemmed and finely chopped kale
- 8 tbsp sunflower seeds (2 tbsp per salad)
- 1 ripe avocado (1/4 per salad, use more if desired)
- hot sauce, lemon, sea salt and black pepper for topping, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Drain and rinse canned chickpeas then use a dishcloth or paper towel to dry them as best as you can. Some of the skins will come off, that’s fine, there is no need to pick them out but you can if you prefer.
- Place the dried chickpeas on a baking tray and add the oil, salt and pepper. Roll them around to coat.
- Roast for 30-40 minutes, shaking the pan after 20 minutes, until crisped and lightly browned.
- Cut the sweet potato into small cubes, rounds or chunks. Toss with the oil then place on a baking tray and roast in the oven (they can go in at the same time as the chickpeas) for 25-35 minutes until tender and browned.
- Prepare the lemon tahini sauce by whisking the lemon, tahini and 3 tbsp of water together until smooth. Slowly start adding more water until you reach a thick and creamy but pourable consistency. Season with salt, to taste.
- After washing the kale, tear the leaves away from the thick stems. Finely chop the leaves then drizzle with 1/4 tsp olive or avocado oil. Use your hands to massage and squeeze the kale until it starts to soften. This should take 1-2 minutes.
- Divide the kale between 4 bowls or containers and top each with equal amounts of the roasted chickpeas, roasted sweet potato, sunflower seeds, and avocado. Drizzle with tahini sauce and enjoy right away, topped with hot sauce, lemon and more salt and pepper, if desired. If storing, keep the sauce separate until ready to eat.
- Assembled salads can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days if the avocado and dressing are left off until serving.
Notes
For lightly sweetened maple tahini dressing, add 1-2 tbsp maple syrup.
If you’d like to make this recipe in advance, make the chickpeas, sweet potato, and tahini dressing and store until ready to assemble the salads. You can also wash and chop the kale ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Stored separately, everything will keep for up to 5 days.
If storing an assembled salad, it will keep 1-2 days in the fridge, or 2-3 days if you store the dressing separately.
To make this recipe oil-free, omit the oil from the chickpeas and sweet potato. The chickpeas won’t crisp up quite as well but they’ll roast just fine. Instead of massaging the kale with oil, either use a bit of lemon juice or lightly steam the kale for 1-2 minutes stovetop to soften.