To think it is obvious that you are roasting the chicken...

What madness is this? Yorkshire puddings are for all roasts.

I'm astonished by some of these answers and think people are getting side tracked by their personal cooking/eating preferences. I see the point of OP's post as, why does she have to do the thinking for her DH?

They discussed if he were home first, he would put dinner on. He knows what's for dinner and he can see there is a whole, raw chicken in the fridge. Does she really need to tell him a chicken has to be cooked before it is eaten? And if he was that perplexed by the different ways in which a chicken can be cooked, why not make a decision and make another meal ready for when OP and DC got home?

We also regularly roast a chicken to top off risotto, make sandwiches etc and stock. We sometimes have it as a proper roast but only occasionally. A whole roast chicken is so delicious and I get the brown meat and skin

We roast a chicken every Sunday mainly for use on salad, wraps and sandwiches throughout the week. Sometimes we have a roast dinner but not every week. I agree it’s much better chicken and a warm freshly roasted chicken on a salad is delightful!

anyway not the point of your threat just thought I’d add my two pennies given that everyone has found it so odd!

I think that was very much @IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads's own point.

It's also been an eye opener to me how many people are thrown by the idea of cooking a whole chicken and then using it in various meals. (Is the word 'roast' the root cause of some of this?) You can't buy free range chicken pre-cooked anywhere I can shop easily, and it's hard (and expensive) to find free range or organic chicken breasts in some too, or thighs, which I prefer to cook with when I can.

It's incredibly easy to roast a chicken too - it requires virtually no attention - and then you've got a whole chicken's worth of meat to do interesting things with. I also now very much want a warm chicken Caesar salad.

I have and it's absolutely superior to cold chicken!

In my student days my favourite meal in our student union was chicken caesar salad. The chicken was served warm on the salad. Absolutely flipping delicious! If we were busy talking or doing work when it arrived I was always sad if I didn't get around to eating it until it had cooled down.

OP, I think roast chicken caesar salad with roast potatoes sounds absolutely drool worthy, and I will be eating exactly that at my earliest possible opportunity this week! I've been going through a phase of eating chicken caesar salads for my lunches so this is perfect, I'll have it warm roasted with potatoes for an evening meal and the leftover chicken meat and salad veg for lunches. And then I'll be happy because I have a chicken carcass and I can make proper chicken pho broth for soup. Perfecto!

We only use a whole chicken for a Sunday Roast in this house. Would buy chicken breasts or thighs for any other chicken recipe, unless using up leftover roast chicken. Never had warm chicken on a salad, would use cold leftovers from a roast or buy pre cooked (I am the only one who really eats salad in this house so a whole chicken for that would be a waste!)

I would be really annoyed. It's just common sense.
Especially if it was 6 and the chicken still needed to be cooked.
What time do you normally eat?
My kids want something around 6/7 latest otherwise they just snack.
So main meal around 8/9 just doesn't work for us.

But how do you think the cold roast chicken gets there in the first place (notwithstanding that chicken in a salad should be warm in my view)

The chicken gets roasted in the first place

I asked earlier in the thread what people are using for chicken in their salads if not cooking up a chicken first? Pre cooked chicken?

I think, if the meal was chicken salad, I'd be looking for cold roast chicken, rather than fresh, uncooked chicken.

In a similar vein to the OP, DH rang me late pm when he knew I'd be working late, to ask what was for dinner. I told him "roast chicken". I got home to... a roast chicken. No veg, no salad, no potatoes, no rice.... no veggie alternative for me.. nothing. Just a chicken. Like he'd never eaten a meal involving roast chicken ever before.

It's not remotely odd @Toastandbutterand

A roasted whole chicken for me is the best chicken. Tastiest, most versatile, easiest, best value. And you get the carcass to make stock with.

So I would use a roasted chicken for every recipe I'm going to use chicken in. Salads, roasts, fajitas, chicken and chips, stir fries, whatever, everything.

This is what I like about mumnset, so many people doing things so differently to what I would consider obvious/normal. Blown away on this thread by the amount of people who have only ever had a roast chicken if they're having a roast dinner.

Last week I cooked a whole roast chicken and we had it hot with a cold Caesar salad and warm baguettes.

Is it that odd? We had this loads when I was a kid in the summer. What about nandos? Is it ok to do chicken and chips it is that weird too?
I never knew about this 'it must be a full riast' etiquette.

Anyway, I'm sure you've sorted it by now op, I hope it tasted good whenever you got to eat it.

Well yes, if one is making Caesar salad, that's how it's done. However, if I'm making it, the mayo would be home made (unless I am in mad rush). Literally takes 2-3 minutes and definitely worth the effort.

If the two of you share meal planning and cooking and he was involved in deciding to get a whole chicken and use part of it for a salad for Sunday dinner, then he was being really odd and I'd wonder why.

If it was your idea to have the chicken Caesar and you asked him to prep, then I can understand his being unsure. But at some point he probably should have logged into MN and posted "I've been asked to prep dinner tonight and it's chicken Caesar salad; I've just seen the chicken and it's whole and raw!!! AIBU to roast it?" Or he could have looked at the chicken while the two of you were both home/when you had the original conversation and asked any questions he had then.

He was too chicken to cook the chicken

In the best possible way: get a divorce.
In 5 years you will post here about your soon to be ex dh who ran away with some dumb girl.
Probably the one who managed to text him back or give clearer instructiona in the first place ;)

On serious note, would I roast a whole chicken for salad and save leftovers? Maybe.
Would I expect my DH to read my mind and do that? Obviously not lol.
Most men function in compartments:
Cesar salad? Chicken breast.
Whole chicken? Not cesar salad.
Chicken for salad not found.

Both me and my DH would need specific instruction on the chicken, who will be roasting it and when to ensure there was dinner available.

We have this meal often but we call it roast salad.

Roast chicken (The whole bird), roast potato and heaps of salad, coleslaw beets and summer veg and salad cream or mayo. It's the best honest.

Do this in summer Sundays with all joints of meat bar lamb.

Yes he should have taken the initiative. Very annoying.

I’d have chickened out by now !!

It depends. Whose idea was the Caesar salad? My DH would be happy to get on with it if it was planned together or his idea, but if he thought I might have a different plan for the whole chicken (roasting a whole one and not having it from left overs would be odd for us) then he might not want to cook it.

I’d hope he’d take the initiative but if he didn’t then it’d be because he’s so caring and not from being obtuse. I’d take a deep breath, put the chicken on and make sure in the future I was clearer/we’d discussed it better.

But just to add, just because a chicken is corn fed doesn’t make it high welfare. “Corn fed” is to make it taste better to us, and has zero bearing on how the chicken is brought up, just what it’s fed. Chickens are omnivores…I’d care less about the corn and more about the insects they get to eat 🤷‍♀️

Caesar salad is for left over chicken or fillets. Whole roast chicken is for any dish that requires gravy. Well in my world anyway.

If the plan was for a chicken Caesar salad I would expect there to be left over cold chicken somewhere, not that you would roast a fresh chicken and have it cold - with roast potatoes ? Sorry, but that's an odd meal all round, nothing obvious about it at all.

You're right of course, but I'm a purist. I've seen Italians argue on MN over what constitutes a true Bolognese, but at least they all agreed on one thing - it's not chicken!

Anyway, we digress...

We do this and I don’t think it’s that strange! A whole roasted chicken gives us enough leftovers for other things too.