Melissa Hemsley’s Sweet potato, chickpea and avocado salad with tahini and Negra Harvest dressing
Lola had the pleasure of meeting Melissa at Blenheim Food Festival, 2025. Melissa enjoyed Two&One Olive Oil so much that she cooked this recipe on the cookery stage using large amounts of Negra Harvest Olive Oil, which she found “fresh and rich and absolutely amazing”.
“One of my favourite things is to bring a bottle of olive oil to a friend’s house, they’ll always be happy to have olive oil… it will sit on their table and they will remember you”
Ingredients
Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes, cut into bitesize cubes
400g tin of chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry with a clean tea towel
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp za’atar or dried oregano
4 tbsp Negra Harvest Two&One olive oil
2 large handfuls of salad leaves, rocket or spinach
1 avocado, cut into chunks
Sea salt and black pepper
Dressing
2 tbsp tahini
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 tbsp Negra Harvest Two&One olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Takes 35 mins – Serves 2
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Toss the sweet potatoes and chickpeas with the paprika, za’atar or oregano and Negra Harvest Olive Oil, then season with salt and pepper, and place them in a large roasting tin. Roast for 20-25 minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft and beginning to caramelise and the chickpeas are crisp.
Meanwhile, make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl, then add 2-3 tablespoons of water to loosen it (or, as she did on stage, more olive oil!). Season to taste.
Pile the salad leaves, rocket or spinach onto plates, top with roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas and the avocado. Drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle over some extra za’atar and more olive oil!
