Fried chicken salad platter recipe

This fried chicken salad platter is perfect served as a sharing dish for when you have friends round, or just as good as a main meal! There's nothing quite like making homemade fried chicken and you'll find yourself making this recipe again and again. Marinating the chicken in buttermilk helps make the meat extra tender, so it's really worth the time it takes. Once that's in the fridge, the rest won't take you long and the platter will be ready in under an hour.

Ingredients

• 8 chicken pieces with skin on – we used thighs, drumsticks and part-boned breasts, halved
• 2x284ml cartons buttermilk
• 50g self-raising flour
• 50g rice flour
• 2tsp garlic salt
• 1¼tsp ground white pepper
• 1½tbsp sweet smoked paprika
• Good pinch chilli flakes
• 1½tsp Chinese 5 spice
• 1tsp dried oregano
• 1tsp dried thyme
• 500g baby vine tomatoes
• 1tbsp oil
• ½tbsp cider vinegar
• ¾tsp Dijon mustard
• ¾tsp runny honey
• 3 little gem lettuces, torn
• Handful watercress leaves

Method

1. Mix the chicken with almost all the buttermilk – reserve 75ml for the dressing. Chill for 3 hrs or overnight. Heat the oven to 220C, gas 7. Remove the chicken from the fridge.
2. Mix the flours, garlic salt, pepper, spices and dried herbs together. Remove thechicken from the buttermilk, pat dry and toss in the spice mix. Put on a baking tray and bake for 40-45 mins. Toss the tomatoes in oil and roast for the last 5 mins of cooking time.
3. Mix the vinegar, mustardand honey with reserved buttermilk; season. Spread the salad leaves in a dish, top with chicken and tomatoes, and drizzle over the dressing.