Spinach Salad With Roasted Vegetables and Spiced Chickpeas
5.0(519)
The best main-course salads are precariously balanced things, requiring planning and forethought to come out well. You need to make sure that your mix of vegetables, proteins and starches hits all the requisite flavor and textural notes — sweet, salty, tangy, fresh, crisp, soft and rich. In the end, a main-course salad should feel virtuous and a little decadent, and eminently satisfying. This recipe works on all those levels. It has crunchy, salty chickpeas imbued with spice. There are sweet potatoes and carrots roasted until exquisitely tender. The creamy Greek yogurt dressing spiked with garlic is creamy and rich. And finally, there’s the spinach, which is earthy and fresh.
Toss sweet potato and carrots with 2 tablespoons oil and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread on a large rimmed baking sheet and top with thyme sprigs. Roast, tossing occasionally, until golden-brown and very tender, 40 to 50 minutes.
03While vegetables are roasting, toss chickpeas with 2 tablespoons oil, chile powder, cumin and a large pinch of salt. Spread on another rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to the oven 10 minutes after you’ve put in the potatoes and carrots; roast until crisp and golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
04Using the flat side of a knife or a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with a large pinch of salt until it forms a paste. Add it to a small bowl and whisk in yogurt and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in remaining 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) oil. Season with salt and pepper.
05In a large bowl, combine spinach, roasted vegetables, chickpeas and shallot. Toss with enough dressing to lightly coat vegetables and greens and serve at once.