Chicken Salad

Method

• 1 Preheat your oven to 200°C. Or 180°C if it’s a fan, or mark 6 if it’s gas.
• 2 Take your chicken and place it in the centre of a large roasting tin, stuff the cavity with 2 halves of lemon, 2 sprigs of thyme and 2 halves of garlic bulb- don’t forget to check for giblets!
• 3 Rub exterior of the chicken with olive oil, ground black pepper, the chopped thyme leaves and drizzle over half of the lemon juice, then pop the bird in the oven and let it roast for one hour.
• 4 After an hour has passed, baste the chicken with the juices from the pan, then add the crushed garlic and streaky bacon to the dish, although not on the chicken itself.
• 5 Pop the bird back in, and roast it for a further thirty minutes until the chicken is cooked through, and the juices run clear. By this time, the bacon and garlic will have roasted nicely in the excess fat from the bird.
• 6 Now take the tin from the oven and place the bird of a carving dish or plate and cover it with foil. You can leave it to stand for up to an hour while you prepare the rest of the salad.
• 7 Remove the bacon from the tin, chop into small pieces and set aside.
• 8 Carve the warm chicken roughly with a knife and fork creating shredded bite-sized pieces.
• 9 In a large bowl mix together the Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise and remaining lemon juice.
• 10 Add the celery, parsley, mint, cherry tomatoes, spring onions, chicken pieces, bacon and garlic from the tin and mix well.
• 11 Feel relieved that finally you have found a way to enjoy a roast the whole year round.