Easter Sunday last weekend was a magical day. Seattle gave us one of the prettiest days so far this year. I was hosting a dinner for friends and it was absolutely amazing. When a few people showed up early to help, I was working in the yard in the sun. I got my garden planted that afternoon. Some people cooked, some gardened, and by the time everyone was here and it was time to eat, it was still so nice out that we decided to eat outside.

It is entirely possible I might put too many pictures of this up, but they just all look so good!

I know these pictures look magical. It isn’t a trick of photography. It was just a beautiful day. I made a little arrangement of spring flowers and herbs from the yard to decorate the table.

This image is also of the vegetables from the roast, which was delicous. The fennel may have been my favorite part.

Doesn’t that just look delicious? My Bon Appetit this month gave me a recipe for Easter dinner. I made Roast Chicken with Fennel, Potatoes, and Citrus. It was delicious and perfect for this event. There was plenty to go around and most importantly, it did not require a lot of work after guests arrived. I was able to toss it in the oven and just deal with the vegetables when people were here.

I did a simple asparagus saute to go with the roast vegetables. Tossed them in lemon juice and topped with chopped hard boiled eggs. Delish!

And here next to the beautiful Greek salad another of my guests provided.

Most importantly, the simple roast recipe gave me lots of time to sit in the yard with my Gin and Sun Cocktail and chat with friends while things were cooking.

Can you believe how beautiful that chicken is?

Roast Chicken with Fennel, Potatoes, and Citrus

My notes: I used 2, 5 pound chickens because, as always, I was worried there wouldn’t be enough food. Silly me. So, I baked for an hour and a half. Also, I didn’t have a roasting rack, so I sat the Chickens directly on the vegetables. Other than the skin on the thighs not getting crispy, there wasn’t much difference there. And since I was using a large disposable pan, I wasn’t able to put it on the stovetop for that cooking step. Instead, I dumped all the vegetables into a pan to cook the liquid off and then tossed them back in the roasting pan to go back in the oven. Worked fine.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic plus 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
• 4 teaspoons kosher salt plus more for seasoning
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more for seasoning
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 fennel bulbs (3 pounds), trimmed, each cut into 8 wedges, plus 1/4 cup fronds
• 2 poundsfingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
• 24 small carrots, peeled or scrubbed
• 8 shallots, halved lengthwise
• 3 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 2 halved
• 1 orange, cut crosswise into 8 slices
• 8 tablespoonsolive oil, divided, plus more
•2, 4-pound kosher chickens

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Special Equipment:

A spice mill

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 450°. Toast fennel seeds in a small dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until fragrant and slightly darker, 2–3 minutes. Let cool; finely grind in spice mill. Mix fennel, lemon zest, garlic, 4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Set spice mixture aside.

• Place fennel wedges, potatoes, carrots, shallots, and lemon and orange slices in a large heavy roasting pan. Drizzle 4 Tbsp. oil over, season with salt and pepper, and toss well to coat. Spread out in an even layer.

• Rub remaining 4 Tbsp. oil all over the chickens. Season chickens inside and out with spice mixture. Stuff each chicken with a lemon half and half head of garlic. Tie legs together loosely with twine.

• Set a roasting rack over vegetables in pan; place chickens on rack. Roast until chickens are cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thighs registers 165°, about 1 hour.

• Preheat broiler. Transfer chickens to a carving board and let rest for 15 minutes.

• Meanwhile, place roasting pan on stove over 2 burners. Transfer lemon and orange slices to a small bowl. Cook vegetables over medium heat, stirring often, until liquid is evaporated, 8–10 minutes. Set pan under broiler; cook vegetables, rotating pan once, until browned in spots, about 5 minutes.

• Season vegetables to taste with salt and pepper. Squeeze juice from remaining lemon halves over vegetables to taste.

• Carve chickens. Divide roasted vegetables and chicken among plates. Garnish with reserved citrus slices and fennel fronds.