Cabbage and Fennel Salad with Lime, Basil and Chilli and Mothers Day update

So we survived cooking our first meal for 10 people! Very good practice for Christmases to come I think! The menu we created was super simple, because we didn't have too much in the oven, and it could all be taken out and kept warm once done and then we served everything as a little buffet in the kitchen for people to help themselves. We even all managed to fit round the table fairly comfortably!

The chicken roasted on bread was absolutely incredible! I highly recommend you try this, the bread becomes the most amazing giant chicken-y croutons... which are a bit chewy, a bit crunchy and entirely delicious. I decided to do chicken legs in the end as we were doing it for so many people which worked out really well. As all the chicken juices are absorbed into the bread you can't make a gravy with this recipe. To go with our spring like menu I made a really quick yoghurt sauce for the chicken - greek yoghurt, lots of lemon juice, good olive oil, flaky sea salt and basil and parsley all whizzed together in a mini blender.

As promised here is the recipe for the salad I made - Cabbage and Fennel with Lime Basil and Chilli. It was really refreshing and the perfect foil to the rich juicy chicken.

Cabbage and Fennel Salad with Lime Basil and Chilli

Serves around 6-8 people as a side salad (I doubled the recipe)

Ingredients

1/2 head of white cabbage

1 head of fennel

Zest and juice of 2 limes

Olive oil

small bunch of basil

2 fresh red chillies, sliced

Method

Slice the cabbage and fennel finely either with a mandolin or in the food processor.

Mix together the lime juice and zest, with the same quantity of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Pour all over the salad and mix well - leave for half an hour or so at room temperature for the flavours to mix and the veggies to soften a little bit.

Just before serving slice the basil and mix into the salad with the chill and sprinkle some reserved basil leaves on top.