Add a dash of nigella seeds to sweet potato chickpea dip

At A Voce Columbus Circle, after marveling at the verdure, their stellar small vegetable dishes meant as appetizers, I realized how convenient it would be to keep such snacks in my refrigerator either for lunch or to appeases those hunger pangs when I’m super busy and can’t cook. And though I am not able to recreate A Voce’s offering, I can certainly make my own renditions of stellar snack food to keep on hand (see, also, my earlier post on tzatziki), as is the case with this orange, vitamin-rich dip that goes perfectly with flat bread. It’s made all the more inviting with cayenne pepper and a sprinkling of nigella seeds. Serve warm or at room temperature with flat bread and other goodies, like olives and cheese—and perhaps a glass of your favorite wine.

Sweet potato and chickpea dip

Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato, scrubbed
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a dash more for drizzling
fresh ground pepper, to taste
nigella seeds, to taste (optional)

Make the dip
Preheat oven to 425°. Prick sweet potato several times with a fork. Place on a cookie sheet and roast until flesh is tender, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Combine chickpeas, garlic, cayenne pepper and salt in large bowl. Mix with an immersion blender until smooth. Scoop out sweet potato flesh, and add, mixing for another minute. Slowly add olive oil and mix until combined.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Grind pepper over dip and drizzle with extra olive oil. Sprinkle with nigella seeds (optional).