Roast Chicken With Blood Orange Fennel Salad Food

ROASTED CARROT, SPELT, FENNEL & BLOOD ORANGE SALAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook the spelt with the stock cube following pack instructions - don't overcook it, as it should still have a little nutty bite. When the spelt is done, drain it very well and toss on a platter with 1 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil to stop it from sticking together too much.
• Meanwhile, toss the carrots with the olive oil, blood orange zest and some seasoning in a roasting tin, then roast for 15 mins. Carefully stir through half the honey with the fennel. Continue roasting for another 10 mins, then cool for 5 mins. Cut away the pith and peel from the 2 zested oranges, then roughly chop or slice.
• Whisk together the remaining extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp honey, red wine vinegar and the blood orange juice with some seasoning. Scrape the roasted carrots and fennel plus any cooking juices on top of the spelt, along with the orange chunks, red onion, herbs and olives. Drizzle over the dressing and toss everything together well. The salad will happily hold at room temperature for a few hours, but the spelt will soak up the dressing - so if you're making it ahead, add half the dressing when assembling and stir through the rest just before you serve it. As you serve, stir through the parsley, if you like.

ROASTED FENNEL AND ORANGE SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Trim the fronds from the fennel and reserve. Remove the stalks and cut a slice off the base of each fennel about 1/4 inch thick. Slice each fennel into 6 wedges, place in a baking dish and drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Season well. Bake 40-45 minutes or until the fennel is tender and slightly caramelized. Turn once or twice during cooking. Allow to cool.
• Cut a thin slice off the top and bottom of each orange. Using a sharp knife, slice the skin and pith off the oranges. Remove as much pith as possible. Slice down the side of a segment between the flesh and the membrane. Repeat with the other side and lift the segment out. Do all the segments on both. Squeeze out any juice remaining in the membranes.
• Whisk the remaining oil into the orange juice and the lemon juice until emulsified. Season well. Combine the orange segments, onion and olives in a bowl, pout on half the dressing and add half the mint. Top with the roasted fennel, drizzle with the remaining dressing, and scatter the parsley and remaining mint over the top. Chop the reserved fronds and sprinkle over the salad.