My name is Kim and I’m a lazy chef. Truly. If it isn’t quick and easy, I don’t make it, I don’t bake it. And yet, like our fabulous Damsel, I’m trying to preserve the old tradition of making “real” food. In our house we’ve said goodbye to just-add-water products, frozen chicken nuggets, and various other processed foods. The good news is that “from scratch” does not equate to “from hours and hours of intensive work and sweat” (I don’t do the sweating thing – too much work).
As much as I hate work, I love to roast things. Plop them in a pan, toss ‘em in the oven, and a little while later . . . scrumptiousness. I am all about the roasting. I found this to be a good first step in my (often stumbling) journey towards from-scratch-ness (and a good way to break my addiction to those little roast chickens the local supermarket sells). I was going to share a recipe for my favourite roast chicken but decided hey, why not do The Full Meal Deal and share a complete roast meal? Three recipes all with a similar theme of roasting, olive oil, sea salt and garlic (no obligation to make them all at once, of course). Bon appetit?
Roast Lemon Garlic Chicken
Roasted Chicken Recipe Credit to Jaime Oliver
One roasting chicken, defrosted
one lemon
olive oil
one whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
sea salt
black pepper
one handful of fresh thyme
one handful fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves picked (save these for the potatoes)
Preheat oven to 375.
Put a small pot of water on to boil, add lemon (yes, just put it in whole) and garlic cloves and boil for ten minutes. Slather chicken with olive oil and season with sea salt, black pepper, and thyme (fresh if possible). Put the lemon and garlic in cavity of chicken. Stab lemon about 10 times with a knife so hot lemon juice is released into chicken (yum!). Toss it into the oven (you know, in a pan of some sort), and roast for 90 minutes.
Roasted Broccoli with Garlic
Roasted Broccoli
Broccoli florets
olive oil
garlic
sea salt
Preheat oven to 450. Toss broccoli lightly in olive oil and garlic (minced, crushed, whole – according to your preference). Sprinkle lightly with salt and roast for 20 minutes.
Roast Potatoes with Rosemary
Roast Potatoes
New potatoes (russet work okay but new potatoes are best)
olive oil
rosemary
sea salt
black pepper
garlic (optional)
Preheat oven to 450. Chop potatoes in half or into thirds according to size. Toss lightly in olive oil and season with rosemary, sea salt, black pepper, and garlic. Roast for 30 minutes, till potatoes are brown and crispy on the outside.
