Roast Sweet Potato & Chicken Salad

Roast Sweet Potato & Chicken Salad

My son Fergal is a huge fan of sweet potato. So most weeks I roast up a big batch for him. As I’ve discovered the easiest way is to just pop the whole sweet potatoes in the oven and roast until they’re soft. I then scoop out the flesh and discard the skins when serving. So easy!

enough for: 2
takes: 60 minutes
2 medium sweet potatoes
450g (1lb) chicken thigh fillets
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 bag salad leaves
handful feta, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Place sweet potato on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes.

2. Add chicken and bake for another 30 -40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and sweet potato is soft.

3. Meanwhile, combine vinegar with 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Season.

4. Scoop the flesh from the sweet potato into chunks and toss in the dressing with the chicken and parsley.

5. Serve with feta crumbled on top.

Variations

vegetarian – replace chicken with a drained can of chickpeas.

vegan – replace feta with chunks of avocado and chicken with extra sweet potato or a drained can of chickpeas or beans.

different meat – lovely with pork sausages, add them at the beginning as they will take longer to cook.

more veg – feel free to add in other veg such as carrots, onions, potatoes, parsnip, beets, swede (rutabaga) or red peppers.

more substantial – toss in cooked grains or legumes before serving such as brown rice, quinoa, farro, lentils, chickpeas or beans. Or chunks of crusty sourdough. Or simple add extra sweet potato.

dairy-free / paleo – replace feta with roasted pine nuts, roast cashews, almonds or chunks of avocado.

short on time – replace sweet potato with a drained can of chickpeas. Slice chicken and pan fry in a little oil for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.

Waste Avoidance Strategy

sweet potatoes – will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. OK to freeze.

chicken thigh fillets – freeze them.

rice vinegar – keep in the pantry.

salad leaves – are highly perishable. My first path would be to use them for another meal (salad for breakfast!) but if that isn’t possible you can pop them in the freezer. They will wilt down but can then be used anywhere you’d use wilted greens. At least this way they wont go slimey.

feta – keeps for months unopened in its packet. Or can be frozen. Or you could make a marinated feta by putting it in a super clean jar from the dishwasher and covering with oil and then keeping it in the fridge. Sometimes I like to add flavourings like bay leaves, lemon zest and pepper corns or chilli.