Baked Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas

Sweet potatoes are healthier than the humble spud and, in my opinion, tastier. Even better, they take a shorter time to cook. I just love this one-dish wonder – the flavour that comes from the dark chicken meat seeps into the rest of the dish giving you a warm welcoming pat on the back:
'Well done my son.'

Ingredients

2 red onions

600g sweet potatoes

12 cherry tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

Rapeseed oil

8 chicken thigh fillets or 4 chicken legs, skinned and boned

Sea salt and black pepper to season

400g tin of chickpeas, rinsed

A bunch of parsley

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200°C.

• Peel the red onions and cut into thick wedges, then peel and chop the sweet potatoes into large bite-sized pieces. Add these to a large roasting dish along with the cherry tomatoes and garlic, which has been peeled and sliced. Drizzle over a tablespoon of oil and toss around. Roast for 20 minutes.

• In the meantime season the chicken with salt and black pepper. Heat a large frying pan on a high heat with a tablespoon of oil and when hot brown off the chicken in a few batches (so that it is brown rather than braised). Add the chicken to the oven dish and bake for another 15 minutes.

• Remove the oven dish, add the rinsed chickpeas along with the parsley and toss around for a minute until heated through.

• Serve with a simple side salad.