A great meat and salad combo walks the line between fresh and exciting. Yeah, it's gotta be plumped up with the good stuff, but if you scrimp on the exciting bits, you're not making friends. This one has the balance right with thrillingly tender chicken, caramelised pumpkin and salty feta, offset of course, by plenty of leaves and handfuls of nutty chickpeas.
Preheat oven to 220°C fan-forced. Peel and cut pumpkin into 1cm-thick pieces. Pick sage leaves from their stems. Place pumpkin, sage leaves, 20ml (1 tablespoon) oil and a sprinkle of salt on a lined tray. Toss to coat and spread into a single layer. Roast for 25–30 minutes or until pumpkin is cooked through and caramelised. While the pumpkin is roasting, continue with step 2.
Add vinegar, mustard, honey, 20ml (1 tablespoon) oil, salt and pepper to a bowl and mix to combine.
Drain chickpeas and rinse under cold water.
Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a frypan over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook, turning occasionally, for 12-14 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
Remove pumpkin from oven and allow to cool slightly. Carefully fold chickpeas through the pumpkin. Cut chicken into thick slices.
Crumble feta over pumpkin and fold through spinach. Drizzle with dressing. Divide salad between plates and top with chicken to serve.