The Big Glut Recipe - April

Tarragon roast chicken with summer greens

From BBC Good Food 

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• large woody sprig of tarragon
• 1 medium chicken (about 1.4kg)
• 450g baby potatoes, halved
• 2 tsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil (about 1.4kg)
• For the summer greens
• 1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
• 2 leeks, cut into rings (about 300g) 
• 350g asparagus (250g pack plus 100g pack) ends trimmed, each cut into 4
• 320g frozen peas
• 260g bag of young leaf spinach
• 2 tbsp bio Greek yoghurt
• 1 tbsp tarragon leaves, chopped

Method

Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Finely grate the zest and squeeze the juice from the lemon, then set aside, keeping them separate from each other. Put the squeezed-out lemon and the tarragon sprig in the chicken cavity. 

Tip the potatoes into a large roasting tin and toss with the oil and a grinding of black pepper. Sit the chicken in the middle, but not on top of the potatoes and roast for 1¼-1½ hrs until the chicken is cooked but still moist, and the potatoes are tender and golden. 

Remove the tin from the oven, pour off any juices into a jug and set aside. Toss the lemon zest through the potatoes and leave the chicken to rest, covered, while you cook the greens.

Pour 150ml water into a pan and add the bouillon. Drop in the leeks, cover and cook for 2 mins, then add the asparagus and peas. Cover again and cook for 2 mins more. 

Finally, stir through the spinach to wilt it. Pour the roasting juices into the veg with 2 tbsp lemon juice, the yogurt and tarragon leaves, and stir well. 

Recipe courtesy of BBC Good Food