roasted chicken with roast carrot and avocado salad

Sunday night dinner...

A delicious winter meal inspired by Jamie Oliver

the menu:

- roasted carrot and avocado salad

- lemon roasted chicken and potatoes

Roast carrot and avocado salad with orange and lemon dressing

* adapted from Jamie Oliver

Serves 4

12 medium carrots (buy with leafy tops)

2 tsp cumin

freshly ground sea salt and pepper

2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

extra virgin olive oils

white wine vinegar

1 orange, halved

1 lemon, halved

3 ripe avocados

2 tblsp honey (melted)

2 tsp dijon mustard

ciabatta or flat bread

2 handfuls of salad greens

1/3 cup sour cream

6 tbsp almond slices (roasted)

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Fill a pot with water, add 2 tsp sea salt and bring to a boil
• Add carrots to boiling water for 10 minutes (or until they are nearly cooked)
• While the carrots are boiling - combine the cumin, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, garlic. Add enough olive oil to generously cover the paste, and 1 tblsp of vinegar. Stir together
• Drain carrots and put in roasting pan. Pour above mixture over the steaming hot carrots -coating the carrots well.
• place the orange and lemon halves cut side down in the roasting pan with the carrots. These will roast along with the carrots, and their juices will be used as the basis of the dressing.
• Place in preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes (or until golden).
• While the carrots are roasting, halve and peel avocados. Cut them into wedges and lace in a big bow.
• Remove the carrots from the oven and add them to avocados.
• using tongs squeeze the roasted orange and lemon juice into a bowl and add 2 - 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar, honey, and dijon mustard.
• pour the dressing over the carrots and avocados
• Toast bread and then tear into little pieces - add to the dressed carrot and avocado. Mix together.
• Toss in the salad greens.
• divide salad between individual plates. Spoon over a nice dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle over toasted almonds and serve.

Lemon and rosemary roasted chicken and potatoes

*adapted from Jamie Oliver

1 whole chicken

extra virgin olive oil

2 whole lemon

1/4 cup butter (room temp. - soft)

3 cups small potatoes

1 tbsp rosemary

1/2 cup of chopped slices of meat (pancetta, garlic salami or bacon)

12 cloves of garlic, peeled

freshly ground sea salt and pepper

Rub the chicken inside and out with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Do this in the morning if possible, then cover the chicken and leave in the fridge until you're ready to start cooking it. By doing this, you'll make the meat really tasty when cooked.

Preheat your oven to 375ºF.

Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Cut the potatoes into golf-ball-sized pieces, put them into the water with 1 whole lemon and 8 garlic cloves, cook for 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and allow to steam dry for 1 minute (this will give you crispier potatoes), then remove the lemon and garlic. Toss the potatoes in the pan while still hot so their outsides get chuffled up and fluffy – this will make them lovely and crispy when they roast. While the lemon is still hot, carefully stab it about 10 times. Put the lemon and the garlic cloves aside.

Take the chicken out of the fridge, pat it with kitchen paper and rub it all over with olive oil.

Peel the rind off the uncooked lemon and chop it into fine bits. Combine lemon rind, 4 remaining garlic cloves, butter, rosemary, chopped meat slices, and salt / pepper. Put mixture aside.

With the chicken cavity facing you, peel the skin of the chicken away from the flesh without tearing it. You should feel a pocket form between the skin and flesh.

Using your hands, pick up some of the butter mixture and stuff it into the pocket you just created. Repeat on the other side of the chicken. Rub the rest of the mixture all over the chicken, inside and outside. If you have any remainder mix, place it in the cavity of the chicken.

Push the garlic cloves, the whole cooked lemon and the peeled lemon into the cavity, then put the chicken into a roasting tray and cook in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes.

Remove the chicken to a plate. Some fat should have cooked out of it into the roasting tray, so toss the potatoes into this with 1 tbsp of rosemary leaves. Shake the tray around, then make a gap in the centre of the potatoes and put the chicken back in.

Cook for a further 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are nice and golden. (You can tell the chicken is cooked when the thigh meat pulls easily away from the bone and the juices run clear.)

Remove the lemon and garlic from inside the chicken and discard. Carve the chicken at the table.