You’re going to love this hearty roasted sweet potato salad with chickpeas and a warm olive “dressing.” The sweet potatoes cook in the oven while you build the dressing on the stove top. Each bite has a tender bite of sweet potato, peppery arugula, briny chopped olive, and salty vegan feta. It’s a real flavor party, similar to this kale sweet potato salad with spicy tahini ranch! Ready in 40 minutes with 10 main ingredients.

I love a warm dressing when hearty ingredients like chickpeas and sweet potatoes are involved. With this salad, I have you heat up olive oil in a sauté pan before adding minced shallot, za’atar spice blend, and chopped olives. The warm oil brings out the flavor of all elements beautifully with a gentle sizzle. As a final step, I have you add the chickpeas and some lemon juice. Spoon that goodness over arugula and the roasted sweet potatoes!

About the za’atar in our dressing:

• Za’atar refers to both an herb (sometimes called a variety of oregano or thyme) native to the Levant region, and a spice blend mixture with the herb, sumac, sesame seeds, salt, and sometimes a dab of oil. In this recipe, we use the spice blend!
• The use of this seasoning dates to the 12^th century and continues to be ubiquitous (with variations) throughout the Middle East.
• You can read more about za’atar on ICE Culinary’s blog as well as this post featuring a homemade za’atar recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Urban Farm & Kitchen.

In my everyday food and cooking life, I am a fan of salty and briny flavors. This plated salad really shines in that department. If your palette is wired similarly, I know you’re going to enjoy this one. I find this dish hearty enough on its own for lunch or dinner. If you wanted to fill our your plate a touch more, I recommend serving this with my marinated and grilled tempeh.

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Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Olive & Chickpea “Dressing” (Vegan)

This hearty roasted sweet potato salad is bursting with flavor! Briny olives, earthy za'atar and chickpeas, tender sweet potatoes, peppery arugula, and creamy vegan feta come together beautifully. Ready in 40 minutes with 10 core ingredients.

5 from 4 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr

Servings 3 -4

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped (about 665 grams)
• 1 tablespoon + ⅓ cup olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 3-4 big handfuls baby arugula
• 1 small shallot, fine dice
• 1 ½ tablespoons za’atar spice blend
• ¾ cup olives, pitted and roughly chopped (see notes)
• 398 ml can chickpeas (1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice (see notes)
• 85 grams (3 oz) vegan feta, crumbled

Notes

• My oven has been a bit wonky lately, so I recommend checking in on your sweet potatoes at the 30-minute mark. Typically, it takes a full 40 minutes with my oven.
• The za’atar blend that I use has sumac in it, which offers a bright and lemony flavor. If yours does not contain sumac, I recommend adding a little pinch. I order mine from Etsy and the flavor/freshness is incredible.
• I use Castelvetrano olives here, which are quite buttery and not as salty as other varieties. Truly any pitted olive that you like will work nicely!
  If you like the skin of sweet potatoes, feel free to leave it on.
• I like a good amount of acidity in my food, so 3 tablespoons of lemon juice suits me just fine. Others might find this to be too much. I recommend starting with 2 tablespoons, tasting, and going from there.
• There’s lots of great vegan feta options out there these days! I used Nafsika’s Garden in these photos.

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper if you like.
• Place the chopped sweet potatoes on the baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to evenly coat all pieces before spreading them out evenly. Roast in the oven until tender and browned, about 35-40 minutes. I like to stir them up at the halfway point.
• Arrange the arugula on your serving platter. Set aside.
• Make the olive and chickpea “dressing.” Place a medium skillet on the stove over medium heat. Once hot, pour in the remaining ⅓ cup of olive oil. Add the diced shallot, za’atar blend, and olives. Stir until the shallots are very fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. It should be a quiet and calm sizzle; not a loud, splattering sizzle. Lower the heat if necessary!
• Add the chickpeas to the skillet, along with salt (being mindful of how salty the olives and feta are), pepper, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Once chickpeas are warmed through, remove the skillet from the heat.
• Top the arugula with the roasted sweet potatoes, Then, spoon the warm olive and chickpea mixture evenly over the arugula and sweet potatoes.
• Finish the salad with crumbled vegan feta and enjoy!

Author: Laura Wright

Course: Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Keyword: 10 ingredients, arugula, castelvetrano olives, chickpeas, fall, garlic powder, lemon, lemon juice, olive oil, olives, onion powder, quick, shallots, spring, sumac, summer, sweet potatoes, vegan cheese, vegan feta, winter, za’atar