Sweet Potato & Brown Rice Salad

Original post found at a Splash of Vanilla food blog here. See my version below:

160g brown rice, rinsed (or 1 bag of instant rice will do)

480g (1 lb) sweet potato, peeled and diced into bite sized pieces

Olive oil

120g (15 oz / 1 can) cooked or tinned drained chick peas

10ml extra virgin olive oil

3 tblspn balsamic vinegar

3 tblspn honey wholegrain mustard

45g (1/3 cup) chopped walnuts or pecan nuts

Green part of 6 shallots, sliced thinly

2 tblspns continental parsley, chopped (instead of buying parsley, I used red pepper that I already had at home)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees C.

Boil rice per instructions listed on package, or make instant rice. Meanwhile roast bite-size pieces of sweet potato in olive oil for 25 minutes or until slightly browned and almost cooked. After 25 minutes, toss sweet potato and  place nuts and sliced red peppers in roasting pan for 5-7 minutes until toasted (make sure they don’t burn!).

In a bowl, combine brown rice, chickpeas and shallots and honey/balsamic mixture. Once cooled, add sweet potato, walnuts and red pepper.

Serves 4 side dishes or 2 main dishes.