Foodie Fridays: Sweet Potato Chickpea Salad with Pesto

Sweet Potato Chickpea Salad with Pesto from the Two Peas & Their Pod blog is a hearty salad recipe, perfect for the weather we are having at the moment with cool mornings but warm days.  It is more of a side dish, but could be served as a light meal atop salad greens.  Of course I made a few changes to the recipe, notably using more onion and roasting both the onion and the chickpeas with the sweet potatoes.  I found my dish to be a bit dry, so I added more pesto plus about a tablespoon of olive oil to the mixture.  It would be easy to customize the recipe even more by adding additional vegetables (bell peppers, for example) and/or substituting a different type of cheese.  If you are looking for a new way to serve sweet potatoes, this dish could be just the ticket!

Sweet Potato Chickpea Salad with Pesto

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large red onion, cut into chunks
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 T. olive oil
1/2 C. pesto, at room temperature
1/4 C. julienned basil
1/3 C. crumbled feta cheese

Place the sweet potato and onion pieces on a large baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat.  Roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Toss the vegetables with the chickpeas and continue roasting for about 20 minute longer, until the sweet potatoes are cooked through (do not let the chickpeas overcook).  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, gently combine the sweet potato mixture with the remaining ingredients (do not break up the sweet potatoes).  Add a little olive oil if the mixture seems too dry.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.  Serve at room temperature (I served it over salad greens lightly dressed with a vinaigrette).  Serves 4.