C is for Chicken Salad

As the weather starts to warm up, I have to rethink most of my weekend meals.  On the vast majority in the winter, I cook up a roast.  They're just so easy.  And it means I get time to relax and do other things.

However with the weather warming up, I have to start to rethink my weekend repasts and 'summer' up my recipes.

And this roast chicken salad is one of my favourites as the chicken is really well flavoured and moist.  Note the roasties so it still 'eats' like a good meal.

Gather:

• 1 roast chicken (size depending on number of people being fed)
• ½ an onion, skinned, top and tailed
• 1 pack of Boursin (150 gms size, or any other soft flavored creamy cheese)
• 2 rashers of streaky bacon per person
• 2 tblspns pine nuts
• Salad leaves
• Spring onions
• Cucumber
• Radishes
• 2 teaspns dijon mustard
• White wine vinegar
• S&P

Then...

1. Unpack the Boursin into a disposable piping bag / large freezer bag and leave to soften
2. Take the chicken and using a wooden spoon, carefully part the chicken skin from the breast so it doesn't tear  
3. Use a pair of scissors to snip the membrane holding the skin to the breast bone without cutting through the skin
4. Put the half onion in the bird cavity
5. Snip the end / a corner off the Boursin bag and pipe the cheese into the space between the chicken and the skin.  Massage through the skin to check it evenly covers the whole breast area
6. Rub the skin with oil, season well and then layer over the bacon rashers to form a protective cover for the chicken/cheese
7. Roast the chicken @ 180℃ for 1½ to 1¾ hours until the internal meat temperature reaches 72℃
8. Once cooked, take out the chicken and remove the bacon strips from the chicken and set to one side (don't cover else they'll go soggy)
9. Leave the chicken to rest
10. Pour the cooking juices and the fat from the roasting tin into a clean jam jar and leave the lid off to cook a little
11. Roast the pine nuts for 3½ mins @ 200℃
12. Prep the salad cutting the spring onions into chunks, and slicing the cucumber and radishes
13. Add the Dijon mustard to the cooking juices in the jam jar and add half as much vinegar as there are juices (or to taste)
14. Season the vinaigrette, pop on the lid and shake together vigorously in the jar
15. Toss the salad leaves, veggies and nuts together with the vinaigrette and serve with chicken carved into slices on top (making sure people get a bit of the cooked cheese), roasties* on the side and two bacon strips in a cross on top of the chicken

* New potatoes tossed with butter and fresh dill work well too.