Roast chicken with sweet potato gremolata salad

Roast chicken with sweet potato gremolata salad

By Sara Buenfeld
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(12 ratings)
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Prep: 15 mins Cook: 1 hr, 10 mins

Easy

Serves 2

Roast a whole chicken for this low-calorie lunch or dinner and save the leftovers for later - swap the chicken with hard-boiled eggs for a vegetarian version.

Nutrition and extra info

  • Gluten-free

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal477
  • fat8g
  • saturates1g
  • carbs65g
  • sugars37g
  • fibre14g
  • protein29g
  • salt0.6g
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Ingredients

  • 1 lemon
    Lemon

    Lemon

    le-mon

    Oval in shape, with a pronouced bulge on one end, lemons are one of the most versatile fruits…

  • 1½ kg whole chicken (free-range or organic), fat from inside the neck cavity removed
    Chicken

    Chicken

    chik-en

    Chicken's many plus points - its versatility, as well as the ease and speed with which it…

  • 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley leaves (reserve the stalks)
    Parsley

    Parsley

    par-slee

    One of the most ubiquitous herbs in British cookery, parsley is also popular in European and…

  • 2 sweet potatoes (175g/6oz each)
    Sweet potatoes

    Sweet potato

    sweet po-tate-toe

    Sweet potatoes have a creamy texture and a sweet-spicy flavour that makes them ideal for savoury…

  • 2 red onions, cut into wedges
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
    Fennel seeds

    Fennel seeds

    feh-nell seeds

    A dried seed that comes from the fennel herb, fennel seeds look like cumin seeds, only greener,…

  • 7 whole garlic cloves
  • 2 tsp extra virgin rapeseed oil
    Rapeseed oil

    Rapeseed oil

    If you want a light alternative to other cooking oils, rapeseed is a great choice and has…

  • 125g bag baby spinach, washed
  • 4 heaped tbsp pomegranate seeds

Method

  1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Grate the zest and squeeze the juice from the lemon into 2 bowls, then push the wedges inside the cavity of the chicken with the parsley stalks. Put the chicken in a roasting tin and roast for 30 mins.

  2. Meanwhile, scrub the sweet potatoes (no need to peel) and cut into chunks. Put in another roasting tin with the onions, fennel, and 6 whole garlic cloves, then toss with the oil. When the chicken has had its 30 mins, put the potatoes in the oven and roast for 30-40 mins more.

  3. Meanwhile, finely chop the remaining garlic clove for the gremolata, then mix with the lemon zest and parsley. Mix the lemon juice, oil and some black pepper in a bowl.

  4. Remove the chicken and potatoes from the oven. Cover the chicken and leave to rest. Stir half the gremolata mix into the lemon juice and oil. Stir the spinach through the potato mix and return to the oven for 2 mins to wilt. Tip into the lemon dressing and toss well. Carve a chunk of breast meat from the chicken (you need about 140g), remove the skin, then cut into pieces. Toss into the salad with the pomegranate seeds, then serve scattered with the remaining gremolata.

  • Recipe Tip

    Chicken?

    Roast a whole chicken for this recipe and use the rest later in the week – or you could use 140g pre-cooked chicken, or poach a large breast instead. 

  • Recipe Tip

    Make it vegetarian

    For a meat-free version, replace the chicken with two hard-boiled eggs with runny yolks per person.

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Comments, questions and tips

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gabigaffron
11th Sep, 2016
5.05
I really love this salad. It serves me as a healthy lunch or as a healthy and satisfying dinner. I love the combination of spicy, sweet and fruity. Usually I make a bigger portion and eat it warm for dinner and save a portion for lunch for the day after the next day.
Minoo's picture
Minoo
13th Jun, 2016
This was lovely and so filling. To make this work for a weeknight I roasted the chicken and veg on a Sunday, took off the chicken for the salad and put it all in the fridge overnight. Then on Monday all I had to do was assemble it with the gremolata and pomegranate. Super quick! And the rest of the roast chicken is handy for lunches and other dinners. Definitely recommend this recipe, but don't be tempted to miss out the fennel, it really added something.
daughterofeve
30th Jun, 2015
5.05
lovely recipe. But I also fried the chicken instead of roasting it, to save time. Otherwise, it's perfect!
felicityhm
17th Jun, 2015
5.05
This was delicious! There's no way full-time workers can roast a chicken in the evening but two chicken breasts put in the oven towards the end of the vegetables timings worked very well. The combination of flavours was perfect.
hjlonsdale
15th Jun, 2015
5.05
Absolutely gorgeous! Not one to make if you're expecting company- 7 cloves of garlic between two people! Roasting the chicken is entirely superfluous unless you're following the summer diet plan. I had to look up the meaning of "gremolata" to understand the recipe- it's the mix of parsley, lemon zest and garlic.
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