2 posts tagged “dinner”

Just got back home from the dentist.  Apparently I misunderstood him last week.  I had two cavities, not one.  At least they were right next to each other on adjacent teeth.  And the total time from walking out my front door to walking back in was only one hour.  Now I'm not supposed to have any solid food for the rest of the day.  Perhaps I'll have Ken take me to Braum's and have a milkshake for dinner....

OK, Maura.  Here's a complete meal just for you that will accomplish what the NuWave Oven claims to do for you and probably tastes a whole lot better.  You will be baking everything in the oven at the same time reducing the amount of energy required to cook the meal.  This is a dinner that's nice enough to impress guests.  For tonight's dinner we are going to have roasted chicken and vegetables with rosemary and olive oil.

Roasted Chicken

• One whole chicken
  
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• rosemary

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Get out a baking pan large enough to hold your chicken.  I like to line it with foil for easier clean up later.  If you don't have a cooking rack use two pieces of foil to create a make shift rack you can set the bird on.

Remove the chicken from the packaging and wash it off under cool running water.  Take out any giblets that are inside.  Pull off any big hunks of fat that you see near the openings.  If you see any feathers still sticking to it, pull them out.  Pat the chicken dry.

 
Add salt, pepper, and rosemary into both cavities of the chicken.  You can also gently pull away the skin on the breast to put seasonings in there.

Rub the skin all over with olive oil or spray with cooking spray.  Truss your bird up nice and tight.  This is not an art project.  It doesn't have to be pretty.  Just make sure it can't get away!

Place your chicken in the baking pan and pop it into the oven.  It will probably need to cook about 30 minutes per pound.  I check to see if it's done by wiggling the drumsticks (they will be very loose) and tipping the pan a bit so that juices run out of the abdomen (the big cavity).  The juices should be clear.  Transfer to a new dish before carving.  Be sure to remove the twine before serving.

Roasted Vegetables

• You need an assortment of fresh (or frozen if you must) vegetables.  I have used potatoes, carrots, and onion because that's what I had on hand.  Use what you like.
• Cooking spray (I used olive oil PAM)
• Oil (I used olive oil)
• salt
• pepper
• rosemary (I used dried, but fresh would be better)
• baking dish with lid

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Spray the baking dish and lid with cooking spray (or you can rub it with oil if you don't have any cooking spray).  Wash the vegetables and peel if needed.  Cut them up into bite size pieces.  I layer them in the dish with dense veggies (like potatoes and carrots) on the bottom and watery veggies (like onions and bell pepper) on the top.  This allows the juices from the watery veggies to run down onto the dense veggies blending the flavors better.  Salt and pepper to taste (you can always add more later if you don't get enough on them).  I used about a tablespoon of dried rosemary.  Drizzle olive oil over the top (maybe 2-3 tablespoons?  I don't measure it.) [Note: I'm showing you enough veggies for about 4 people.  We like leftovers.] Put the lid on the dish and bake for about 1 hour (stir it about half way through) until the veggies are done. 

Here's what it will look like when you are done.

Valuable cooking notes:
Your chicken will most likely take longer to cook than the veggies so prepare it first and pop it in the oven while you're preparing the veggies.  You want everything to come out of the oven at the same time.  If the bird takes a bit longer than you anticipated it won't hurt the veggies to cook a bit longer.

If you wish you can prep the veggies a day ahead and put the baking dish in the refrigerator.  If you choose to do this don't add the spices until you are ready to put it in the oven.

If you have nice variety of colors and textures in you veggies this is all the food you need to serve (I would have preferred something green thrown in that dish.)  If you don't feel you have quite enough you can easily flesh out the meal with a tossed salad and fresh loaf of French bread.  Include a bottle of wine and you have a feast!

Ken and I usually only eat the drumsticks and thighs on the first night.  Tonight I think I'll make chicken quesadillas with the leftovers.  Oh, and the rest of the veggies?  Well, I also had a piece of leftover grilled pork from Saturday night which I cut up and threw into the leftovers of that.  Today I got a fresh zucchini out of the garden which I will cut up, steam, and toss into the dish.  Wednesday night it'll get tossed into the oven to be reheated for dinner.