Marinated chicken with asparagus salad

Prepare
overnight
Cook
30 mins to 1 hour
Serve
Serves 6

This roast chicken recipe makes a lighter option for a spring or summer Sunday lunch.

By Jeremy Lee

From Saturday Kitchen

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Ingredients

For the marinade

For the chicken

For the asparagus salad

  • 75g/2¾oz blanched almonds
  • 3 red or Roscoff onions, cut into 5mm/¼in thick slices
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar or Banyuls red dessert wine, plus extra to finish
  • 50ml/2fl oz extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish
  • 24 asparagus spears
  • 20g/¾oz fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped
  • 20g/¾oz fresh sage, leaves picked and chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 lemon, zest only
  • large pinch dried red chilli flakes
  • mixed salad leaves, 10g/½oz each large-leaf rocket, baby-leaf spinach, watercress, wild cress, land cress, escarole and grumola, picked and washed
  • 20g/¾oz fresh mint, leaves picked and torn, to garnish
  • 20g/¾oz fresh flatleaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped, to garnish
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. To make the marinade, place the thyme, rosemary, garlic, onion and black pepper in a food processor and blend to a coarse purée. Gradually add handfuls of the parsley leaves and gradually pour in the most of the oil, blending each time until there is a thick green paste. Add the lemon juice and the rest of the oil. Stir in the mustard.

  2. To make the chicken, evenly spread the marinade all over the chicken, cover well and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight. Remember to bring the chicken up to room temperature before cooking.

  3. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C/Gas 6. Heat a large roasting tin in the oven for 10–15 minutes and, when hot, pour in the oil and sprinkle the tin with sea salt. Place the chicken skin-side down on the salt. Roast the chicken in the oven for 45 minutes, or until cooked through. The chicken is cooked through when the juices run clear with no trace of pink when the thickest part of the leg, between the drumstick and the thigh, is pierced with a skewer. Cover with kitchen foil and leave to rest for 20–25 minutes.

  4. Return the chicken to the oven before serving to ensure it is heated through.

  5. To make the salad, preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3. Roast the almonds on a baking tray for 8 minutes or until golden. Coarsely chop and set aside.

  6. Place a wide griddle or frying pan over a medium heat. Lay the onion slices on the griddle and cook for 5–8 minutes on one side, then turn and cook on the other side for 3–4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover and set aside for 5 minutes. Remove the cover and discard any burnt pieces of onion. Lightly dress with 1 tablespoon of the vinegar and 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil then set aside.

  7. To cook the asparagus, bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the asparagus to the boiling water for 2–3 minutes until cooked through then drain. The asparagus should still have a bite to them.

  8. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium–high heat. Fry the asparagus until lightly coloured.

  9. Mix the thyme, sage, garlic, lemon zest and chilli flakes in a bowl. Season with salt and black pepper.

  10. Sprinkle the thyme mixture over the asparagus in a bowl. Pour over the remaining vinegar.

  11. To serve, carve the chicken and keep warm. Tumble all the mixed salad leaves onto a large serving platter. Place the asparagus mixture on the leaves and scatter the red onion mixture over the top. Top with the chicken. Garnish with the mint, parsley and almonds and finish with some more vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.