Pair apples with chicken, fennel for easy dinner

Chicken roasted with apples and fennel, a perfect fall pairing, is both weeknight simple and dinner-party worthy.

Seasoned with rosemary, thyme and sage and drizzled with olive oil, the chicken turns tantalizingly crisp while the rendered fat bastes the onions, apples and fennel until they’re meltingly tender.

You want a good sharp apple, such as Haralson, to cut through the richness of the dark meat; the acidity also gives the dish a lift. The caramel notes of the crisped chicken skin echo that of the roasting apples. Do include the fennel. While some folks are put off by raw fennel’s pushy licorice taste, the flavors mellow as its edges soften and become slightly sweet and lush. Together, the apples and fennel become a nutty duo, more than the sum of their parts.

Fennel is more versat