SPICED SWEET POTATOES AND CHICKPEAS
Friday, October 23, 2009 at 2:46PM 
I am not sure there is a group of people more partial to fall, than the food blogger demographic. I have read countless posts and tweets about the elation brought to most via soups, squashes and pumpkin baked goods. Autumn is like the big hug we all get before the pale skin, freezing toes and overdose of holiday jingles. I do like me some good fall foods, but they seem to require a bit more time, ingredients, number of pots to clean and what forth. The pay off, is the complexity of layered flavors, the tenderness of braising and roasting and aromas that linger for hours. The art of delayed gratification. It's supposed to be 80' here this weekend, so the chilled leftovers of this dish are going to be heaped on a nice plate of spicy greens. I've got my arms out and ready for that hug autumn, where are you?
Note that yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing, but either could work here. Yams are slightly less starchy, but in this recipe, the taste is not compromised. Be creative with the spices, if you like it spicy add a bit of red pepper, a squeeze of lime at the end if you enjoy citrus or more ginger if you like the zing.
SPICED SWEET POTATOES AND CHICKPEAS // Serves 4 as a side
I suggest serving this side, on a wide or long platter, not a bowl. When all the warm potatoes sit on top of each other, they continue to steam and get mushy.
1 Cup Dried Chickpeas/Garbanzos ,soaked in water overnight
3 Large Sweet Potatoes, peeled (about 3 lbs)
¾ Cup Finely Chopped Yellow Onion
2 tbsp. Melted Butter
1 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tbsp. Honey
2 tsp. Fresh Nutmeg
1 tbsp. Fresh Grated Ginger
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 tsp. Salt
1 Lime Zest and Juice
Fresh Ground Pepper
3 tbsp. Fresh Thyme, leaves removed
Oven to 425’
1. In a medium pot, bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add the soaked beans. Gently boil for about 50 minutes until the beans are cooked through. Drain.
2. In the meantime, prepare the peeled potatoes. Cut off the ends and chop them into one inch cubes. Try to make them equal in size, shapes can vary. Put them in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the lime zest and juice, melted butter, oil, garlic, salt, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Pour the mix over the big bowl of potatoes, stir. Add the drained garbanzos, onions, 2 tbsp. of the fresh thyme and gently fold to cover everything in the spice mixture.
4. Spread the goods evenly onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 425’ in the upper third of the oven for 35-40 minutes, gently stirring halfway through for consistent browning.
5. Let cool a bit before serving, sprinkle fresh pepper, squeeze of lime,taste for salt and sprinkle remaining thyme on top. 


Reader Comments (52)
Who needs fall weather... I'll get my virtual hug from this dish! It sounds delightful, practically as good as jumping into a nice big pile of crunchy leaves :)
This will so be made by me this weekend - it looks amazing! I like your analogy about Autumn being the big hug before winter. I'm in desperate need of a hug right now :-) We're looking at 80 degrees this weekend, too!
Count me in as an autumn-lover! This looks amazing and simple and perfect. Over top of some rice or millet this would be my weeknight dinner. Love it.
This looks really good. Can I eat dinner again? I guess not, but there's always tomorrow.
I think the onions are absent from the recipe. When do you add them?
Thanks!
You're right. I am so obsessed with autumn, I think I should be the leader of the recovery group or something. Yesterday the thermometer inched back up into the 70s, and I pouted, just a little. But you're also right about the dishes. Speaking of which, I should probably go and do those...
I can't wait to try this! I will be picking up sweet potatoes (camote) at the Feria tomorrow.
I can't wait to get in my kitchen and start making big pots of chili and soup. I love all things with acorn squash and sweet potatoes too. Fall is defintely my favorite season!
you're a "chef" !!!
délicieux !!!
This recipe is very nice, I love those colours, it definitely makes me happy!
This looks do delicious - the perfect fall treat!
Yum. Perfect fall food, and fall colours. I've already made squash soup and roasted root vegetables. Autumn is definitely here in Alberta. In fact we already had a taste of winter. I really love the photo of the scored lime, kind of reminds me of a volleyball.
You KNOW how much we'll benefit from this yummyness in chilly North Carolina. THANK YOU!
I'm a vegetarian and really appreciate this recipe. Never in a million years would I have considered pairing sweet potatoes with chickpeas. It sounds wonderful!!! And the photos look damn good too!
i just recently fell in love with both chickpeas and fall. so i kind of squealed when i saw this post. yay! looks so good, can't wait to try it.
you're right about the fall thing. i'm super excited about it myself and had to show serious restraint at the farmers market picking out squash.
I love reading your posts. You are such a talented writer:) This recipe looks great too....I love the homey food Autumn brings.
What a delicious meal, it's so different. Must be so yummy.
It's just our way of consoling ourselves for living in wintery climates. As much as I love fall dishes (and coats and leaves), I would rather live in year-round warmth!
Two of my favorite things together in one dish! I love the spices here too.
this is absolutely fabulous. thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Your blog is lovely and our philosophy of food is pretty similar though I do serve up meat and potatoes on occasion ;) I look forward to reading more of your recipes and following your blog!
You're so right about fall! I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, always going on about the food, smells and colours of the season. This looks great- it's next to impossible to get sweet potatoes (or yams!) where I live in the UK, so I might try this with a squash.
YUM. and i bet any leftovers would be good packed in a lunch the next day.
Incredible recipe. Cinnamon, honey, ginger, nutmeg - with sweet potatoes? Wow, I can't wait to try this. Add you just roasted everything together? Such a simple preparation with seemingly complex flavors.
Where do you come up with it?!? Yum!!
Spicy chickpeas? How perfect!
This looks like a beautiful plate of fall heaven. I have a butternut squash on hand, do you think it would make for a tasty substitute for the potatoes? I may try this out tonight and let you know! Love your blog by the way, and thank you for stopping by Big Girls, Small Kitchen!
Phoebe
@Allison- yes! everything roasts great together as long as all the spices are dispersed in the butter/lime mix!
@Mollie- Ha, a lot of blog, magazine,menu and food network studying! Take pieces from everywhere and invent my own experiments!
@BigGirlPhoebz- yes, I definently think squash would work, I'm just not sure you would need to cook it quite as long. Squash tends to roast a bit quicker so keep your eye on it!
This looks delicious. Sweet potatoes, chickpeas, cinnamon, lime...yum.
your blog never fails to inspire! that looks so darn tasty.
You had me at sweet potato! It's so true about food bloggers and fall, the flavors are to die for.
Oh my gosh - this looks so so delicious. I can't wait to make it. If I hadn't had dinner already, I'd make it right now. :)
I enlisted my mom to prepare this yummy-looking creation and it is deeeelectable. She said it was a lot of work (whatever, she's retired) and that while she was doing it she was saying never again, but when completed and she smelled it cooking and tasted it, she determined it's most definitely a keeper and she will in fact repeat (woo hoo). Ryan loved it too and he is not an easy guy to please.
wonderful fall recipe. I myself enjoy the coming of fall, especially all the yummy warm spices :)
This is wonderful. I love sweet potatoes and this dish is just incredible. Love the colors of the dish.
Just discovered your website - it's wonderful!
Is this recipe inspired by the very similar one in the Ottolenghi cookbook? (If you haven't seen that, I think you'd like it.)
that's funny! I just made something similar for lunch the other day.
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what a beautiful dish- can't wait to try it out
oh how perfect! I have some lovely sweet potatoes in my fridge. can't wait to try this.
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I made this for the first time tonight -- delicious! It smells like fall, and my husband (who still doesn't admit to liking sweet potatoes) LOVED it. Thanks for the great recipe.
hmm..looks very LEONesque and if there's one thing I LOVE it's chickpeas! If I can get some decent ones here I might just make this
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