Flash Roasted Chicken over Fresh Herbs and Orange Slices, and a Salad

The Chicken
Ingredients
chicken (I used leg quarters, because it's the only organic chicken I can afford)
fresh herbs (I used tarragon, mint, oregano, and thyme because that's what I had on hand)
an orange
a few green onions
a head of garlic


Procedure

• I turned the oven to 485 degrees (purely arbitrary number, really) and put a stainless steel pan in the oven.
• I sliced the orange very thinly.
• I roughly chopped the green onions and removed the paper jackets from most of the cloves on a head of garlic. 
• When the oven (and pan) was heated, I took out the pan, poured a little olive oil in it and scattered the herbs, onions and garlic. I then laid the orange slices on top.
• I put the chicken on top of the orange slices, poured a little more olive oil over it and sprinkled it with salt and pepper before putting it in the oven. 

The Salad
This is my favorite salad. It was inspired by a salad served at a restaurant called Venuto's that was in downtown Iowa City until some natural disaster caused it too much damage to continue. They made their own gelato. It was very good. Their salad used candied walnuts, which I found unnecessarily sweet, so I do mine with regular walnuts.

Ingredients
a mixture of salad greens, I just choose whatever looks good
gorgonzola, or any other blue or green cheese
walntus
cranberries
olive oil
balsamic or red wine vinegar


Procedure

• I put the lettuce in a bowl, sprinkle a handful of walnuts, cranberries  and cheese over it.
• I pour a bit of oil and vinegar over it.