From Our kitchen Lemony-Roasted Chicken Barley Grain Salad

"Roast chicken lends itself so well to the flavours of lemon, herbs and butter in this summer salad. The barley salad could be served by itself for vegetarians, but here, we’ve paired it with a lemony roast chicken. Shred the chicken and mix it through the salad or serve, as we have, in pieces alongside the barley salad. Perfect picnic fare to bring along in your Styleware."

Recipe, photography and introduction by Harriet Davidson

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

1 lemon

1 tbsp fennel seed

Salt and pepper

Tarragon

50g butter

1 bulb garlic

SALAD

1 cup barley

1 eggplant, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup pepitas

Half preserved lemon

Mix of soft herbs (parsley, dill, mint)

1 fennel bulb

Method

To roast chicken, remove chicken from fridge 2 hours before serving to bring to room temperature. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 160C degrees. Rub chicken all over with salt.

Cut lemon in half and place half inside chicken. Rub chicken with olive oil, fennel seeds, chopped fresh parsley and season with salt and pepper. Place in roasting dish. Cut garlic bulb in half cross ways and add to roasting dish.

Place in oven for 20 minutes, at which point take out and baste, turn heat up to 220C degrees and return to oven along with eggplant on a separate tray to roast. This will get the chicken nice and golden and crispy.

Meanwhile, cook barley on stove top according to packet instructions. Drain and set aside to cool.

Once chicken is golden and juices run clear when leg is pierced with a knife, remove from oven and let rest before cutting into six pieces.

For salad, combine barley, eggplant, preserved lemon, pepitas, herbs and shaved fennel in bowl. Drizzle with 1 tbsp each of olive oil and apple cider vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, place salad in Medium or Large Styleware bowl and top with chicken pieces. Garnish with extra herbs and a drizzle of olive oil before serving.