Roast Chicken and Veggies

So I have a huge long list of things to post here, however I'm letting one particular meal cut in line. This is a great simple meal that is so amazingly satisfying. This is also a really great meal if you have a local farmers market. I've taken to wandering around the farmers market, grabbing veggies and fruits that look the freshest and making some kick ass food out of it. While I was at the farmers market this week, I already had roasted chicken and veggies in mind so all I had to do was find the nicest looking veggies. I ended up getting a BUNCH of stuff, but for this meal I used potatoes, carrots, squash, zucchini, and onions. Unfortunately, they don't sell whole chickens, dead or otherwise, at the farmers market so I went to Safeway for that. So here is how to make a whole roasted chicken and veggies to go along with it.

Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Chicken adapted from Pioneer Woman Cooks

1 whole chicken

Fresh herbs (I used sage, thyme, rosemary, and parsley)

Canola oil

1 lemon

1 onion

Vegetables for roasting, cut into uniform pieces

Zuchini

Squash

new potatoes

carrots

Remove the insides from the chicken if this hasn't already been done for you and pat the outside with a paper towel. If the chicken isn't dry before putting on the herbs, it won't get deliciously brown and crispy. Chop up the herbs and combine them with oil. Depending on how many chickens you are doing you will need to change the amounts but here is the basic rule for one chicken:

2 Tbsp chopped herbs

1 Tbsp salt

1 Tbsp canola oil

If you are doing two chickens (like I did) then you would double that. Rub the oil/herb mixture all over the chicken. Then cut the lemon and onion in half and put them in the chicken. My two chickens were kind of small so I did half of each in each chicken. You can also throw in a couple cloves of garlic if you so desire. Also feel free to pin the back of the chicken so that the lemon/onions don't fall out. I used those long metal pointy things. I really don't even know what to call them.

Cook the chicken in 450F oven for an hour to an hour 15 min until the juices run clear. Let rest for 15 min before serving. I thought the chickens were done, but the legs weren't quite as cooked as the breasts were. But we were starving so we carved up the breasts then put the chickens back in the oven to cook the legs through.

Now for the roasted veggies! Make sure all the veggies are all chopped to approximatly the same size, otherwise they won't cook evenly. I cooked my veggies in batches because I wanted to make sure everything was cooked properly. First I did the potatoes and carrots. This is also where you would roast the onions if you chose to do so. Toss the carrots and potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper and any fresh herbs you have on hand. You can put the potatoes and carrots in the oven with the chicken at 450F for 30 min.

After they're done, put them in a bowl, cover it with foil and just wait till everything else is ready. The squash and zichunni are next. The same goes for them: toss with oil, salt, pepper, and herbs and throw it in the oven. These only cook for 10-15 min. Check on them every now and then to see when they're done to your liking.

So there you go! A delicious (and super healthy) roasted dinner.

XOXO

Natalie