Dry-Roasted chicken & all the trimmings!

Well, after Olive & I had a early morning bike ride (before the rain) on Wednesday, I came home and got busy in the kitchen.  Please note our typical Newfoundland weather--on Tuesday, it was 31 degrees Celsius and sunny........on Wednesday we had 12 degrees and rain.  Oh well, I guess that's part of what makes us so "hearty"--ha ha!

I had pulled a whole chicken from the deep freeze the night before last and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it.  I think I was secretly hoping for another nice day so I could barbeque it.  The weather didn't cooperate, so I did the next best thing---a dry roast.  Simply place the completely thawed chicken on a rack, in a roaster, rub it with a dash of olive oil and season it up with your choice of spices.  I use a bit of pepper and some chicken spice.
( NOTE*** Do not put any spices in the cavity, they tend to go all mushy).
Place the roaster, WITHOUT COVER, in a 450* oven for about 20 minutes.  This sears the chicken skin and keeps all the juices in.  Place cover on roaster and turn back heat to 350* for another 1 1/2 hours.  This produces a beautiful golden brown, crispy chicken that is very juicy!!

 

I made us a light garden salad with a little Sweet Onion dressing.....

This dressing is awesome.  I have also used it as a marinade for steak before we barbeque.  The steak literally falls onto your fork and the flavour is scrumptious!!!  The dressing has a blend of fresh Spanish onions and key lime juice.  It's worth checking out....

To top this off, I tried a recipe from my "blog-friend", Jennifer at werelivingafulllife.blogspot.ca.  She has three awesome recipes on her Tuesday post.  I made her Carrot Salad.  The only differences were that I took the lazy approach and put my carrots through the food processor, and I added a teaspoon of brown sugar because I don't have any sugar substitute, but I'm sure the taste is the same.  I added a few raisins, just for color.  It  is a delicious side for any meal.  I will certainly be making it again and again, especially over the summer.  I can't wait to get fresh local carrots for this salad!

To close, I'll show you a great way to use up left-over chicken.  I call it a "Chicken-Veggie Bake"  Here's my recipe:

Chicken-Veggie Bake

1 cup     cubed chicken(cooked)

1/4 cup(each)     chopped celery, green and red peppers, 

fresh mushroom, & cucumbers 

1 Tbsp     black olive slices

1Tbsp     banana pepper slices

1 Tbsp     crumbled feta cheese

1 Tbsp     shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Spray a single serving size baking dish with cooking spray

Place the ingredients in the dish as listed

Bake at 350* for 30-40 minutes

 (I use leftover pork or beef in this recipe as well.  You can use any combination of

veggies that you have on hand)

Delicious!!!!

“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.”
― W.C. Fields