Sesame-Ginger-Chickpea-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

4 medium sweet potatoes

1 tsp vegetable or canola oil

1 15-oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 T sesame oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp coarse salt

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ C tahini

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp grated or minced fresh garlic

2 tsp rice vinegar

¼ C hot water

1 T Sriracha sauce

¼ C thinly sliced scallions

1 tsp sesame seeds (white & black mixed adds visual appeal, but any sesame seeds will do)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Lightly coat sweet potatoes with vegetable oil and pierce multiple times with a fork. Bake for 1 hour, until tender. Cool until handle-able. (Bake chickpeas while they’re cooling; see below.) Split potatoes lengthwise; score inner flesh deeply with a knife.

In a small bowl, combine garlic powder, ½ tsp salt, and ginger. Gently pat chickpeas dry with paper towels. Toss in a wide bowl with sesame oil; sprinkle with garlic-salt-ginger and toss to coat evenly. Bake 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Combine tahini, fresh ginger, fresh garlic and vinegar in a small bowl with 3 tablespoons hot water; stir until smooth. Combine Sriracha with 1 tablespoon hot water in another small bowl.

Drizzle a couple teaspoons of tahini mixture over each half of sweet potato. Season with remaining salt. Spoon Chickpeas generously over each potato, drizzle with remaining tahini mixture and Sriracha mixture. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds.

Season with additional salt (if needed) to taste.