Spring salad with watercress dressing
Savour all the flavours of an Italian spring with this salad with a British twist
Roast chicken with Caesar vegetables
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- Easy
- Serves 4
Skip to ingredients
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 6 anchovy fillets
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 medium egg
- 150ml vegetable oil
- 15g parmesan, finely grated
For the chicken and vegetables
- ¼ small pack tarragon, 1 tbsp finely chopped, the rest snipped off the stem to make small sprigs
- 25g soft butter
- 4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
- 1 ½kg whole free-range chicken
- 200g fine-stemmed asparagus spears, ends snapped off if woody
- 200g green beans, trimmed, halved and blanched for 2 mins
- 170g frozen peas
- ¼ baguette, cut into chunky croutons
Method
- STEP 1
To make the dressing, put the anchovies in a small bowl, add the vinegar, mustard, garlic and egg, then blitz with a stick blender until well mixed. Gradually add the oil in a thin stream until it thickens into a creamy dressing. Stir in the Parmesan, season and chill until ready to serve.
- STEP 2
For the chicken, heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Beat 1 tbsp chopped tarragon with the butter and anchovies, then rub it under the breast skin of the chicken. Rub any remainder all over the bird and roast for 1 hr until the chicken is golden and nearly cooked. After 1 hr, add the asparagus and beans to the roasting tin around the chicken. Cook for 12 mins, then scatter the peas over and cook for another 3 mins until the chicken is cooked through, the vegetables are tender and the peas are hot.
- STEP 3
Meanwhile, put the croutons on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 10 mins until golden and crisp.
- STEP 4
Scatter the chicken and vegetables with the croutons and tarragon sprigs, and spoon over a little dressing. Serve the rest of the dressing separately.
