#60 - The Orange Edition (Orange, Almond and Mozzarella Salad + Roast Chicken with Orange, Dates and Couscous)
And the best meals out I had last year.
Hello Feeder gang!
Winter brings with it lots of quite rubbish things (seasonal depression, chilblains and pitch black starts to the day to name a few), but thankfully there is also really good produce around to keep a pep in your step. The brassica family are at their best (cabbage! Broccoli! Cauliflower! Praise be!), and it’s also the time when lovely citrus fruits are in season.
This week’s newsletter brings with two recipes using oranges, because we all need a bit of brightness in our life in January, and luckily Mother Nature has answered our call by making them plentiful at this time of year. You’ll get an orange, almond and mozzarella salad, as well as a very lovely roast chicken with orange, dates and couscous.
If you’d like to consider upgrading your subscription to paid, I would be so grateful! For just £3.99, you get at least one extra recipe a week (so well over 50 recipes a year), as well as my recommendations and exclusive competitions. Come and get involved!
Enjoy,
Sophie x
In the next installment of my January Self-Care Giveaways series, where I’m giving you the chance to win some self-care goodies from some of my favourite independent brands to help make your January less crap, we have a really gorgeous treat from Evermore.
Evermore are a gorgeous English company making candles and fragranced items from responsibly sourced ingredients, and their scents make your home smell PHENOMENAL. Take it from me, who has burnt a few Evermore candles in her time.
This week, they are very kindly giving you the opportunity to win one of their diffusers (RRP £115). The vessel is handcrafted using black porcelain, and IT would look so beautiful in your home, as well as making it smell delightful. These are available in the Smoke, Ember or Venus fragrances, and all of them are gorgeous.
In order to entire the competition, all you have to do is:
Become a paid subscriber to Feeder (if you already are, then you are covered!)
Subscribe to their newsletter database (you can do this if you scroll down to the bottom of the web page)
You’ll also win one signed copy of my book Tucking In (again, you just have to be a paid subscriber).
For this week’s draw, you have until 11am on 21st January to enter, when a winner will be randomly selected. This competition is for UK residents only.
The Recipes
Orange, Almond and Mozzarella Salad
This is one of those salads that might not sound that special to you , but when I tell you I snaffled up the entire two portions over an afternoon the other day, you might reconsider.
The combination of sweet oranges + funky, creamy buffalo mozzarella + slightly bitter kale + toasted almonds is just so well balanced, and gives you a super speedy lunch that is also packed with goodness.
You could use something like burrata instead of buffalo mozzarella, but in 2025 I’m petitioning we bring back good old bufala. The tangy, rich, almost grassy flavour of it just feels like the more sophisticated option.
Serves 2
250g whole leaf kale
100g blanched almonds
2 oranges
½ lemon
1 tsp honey
½ tsp chilli flakes
60g green olives
1 ball of buffalo mozzarella
Heat your oven to 180C fan.
Tear the leaves off your kale stalks, and break them into bite-sized pieces.
Add your kale leaves to a large baking sheet, and drizzle over 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt. Rub the leaves with your hands to get them all coated in the oil, then pop them into the oven to crisp up for 7-8 minutes.
Pour your almonds onto an small baking tray, and cook these for 7 minutes too, until they are golden brown.
Cut the top and bottom ends off your oranges, then carve the skin off with a small serrated knife. Remove excess pith, then holding the orange in your hand, carve along the inner edges of the segments to release them. Add these to a bowl.
Squeeze the middles of the oranges into a bowl to release the juice, then add the juice of ½ lemon, 3 tbsp olive oil, honey and chilli flakes. Give it a mix, then season to taste with salt.
Cut your buffalo mozzarella into rounds. Drain your olives.
Arrange your kale and orange segments across two plates. Scatter over your olives and almonds, and add your mozzarella, then drizzle over the dressing. Serve it up.
Roast Chicken with Oranges, Dates and Couscous
When I’m seeking out comfort, there isn’t much that does the job better than a roast chicken. My mum cooked one basically every Sunday of my childhood, and I make one at least once a month.
Orange and chicken may sound a little off piste, but trust me. The orange caramelises underneath the chicken as it roasts, along with shallots and dates, to create a really rich, sweet and flavoursome sauce. It was an effort not to drink it from the pan whilst the chicken rested. Even my cat Slinky was keen to get involved (see image below).
The key to a good roast chicken is: