I can’t believe it is November 1st! So amazing, isn’t it? As we all know, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. The smell of autumn is in the air, the colors on the leaves are changing, the air is crisp, cool, and clean, I love this time of year. It is moments like these that make me want a house filled with pumpkin, cinnamon, and spice, a kitchen full of warm soups, and to sip on some hot dandy blend as I watch the rain pour down outside. Sounds magical, doesn’t it? 🙂

Today’s spotlight is something that will last for many meals and simultaneously fill your house with a delicious and comforting autumn aroma- An organic roasted chicken & vegetables.

The reason I am featuring this recipe on “Thrifty Thursday” is because organic animal protein can be pretty pricey, but when you buy a whole chicken, the price is dramatically reduced. You can also use this chicken and all it’s parts to go a long way! I was inspired to make this perfectly roasted chicken by one of Jamie Oliver’s posts. You can read his original version here- http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/perfect-roast-chicken.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 organic Free-Range Chicken- giblets removed.
• 1 Lemon
• Fresh Herbs- I used Parsley & Laurel leaves
• Veggies you’d like to roast- I used red potatoes, onions, asparagus, carrots, sweet potatoes, eggplant, broccoli
• 1 head of garlic
• Organic raw butter or organic coconut oil
• Salt, pepper, & dried parsley or other desired seasonings

**Try to use all organic produce so you avoid toxic pesticides, GMO foods, and fill your body with nutrient goodness!**

HOW TO ROAST A CHICKEN

1. Preheat oven to 240°C/475°F.

Line a large baking sheet (I have one that slides right into my oven rack that has a 2-inch lip so juices won’t overflow) with parchment paper. You can also use a large glass baking dish which does not need to be lined with parchment paper.

2.Cut your vegetables

Roughly chop your veggies into chunks. The amount depends on the amount of people you’d like to feed. Break garlic into cloves, leaving them unpeeled. Put all chopped vegetables and garlic into a large bowl. Once all veggies are chopped, melt approximately 2-3 tbs. raw butter or coconut oil until liquified and pour over veggies in bowl. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and desired spices and mix well ensuring all veggies are coated. Pour veggies out into prepared pan, spreading them evenly across the pan.

3. Prepare Chicken

Remove your chicken from packaging and rinse inside and out. Let dangle over the sink for a few seconds to remove excess water. Place chicken in the center of your prepared pan on top of the veggies. Inside the cavity of the chicken, stuff in your fresh herbs. Now you need your lemon. Take a knife and jab holes in your lemon all around it. Now take your lemon and stuff in the cavity of the chicken. Take your butter or coconut oil and with your hands rub all over chicken. Then, with your hand, separate the breast from the top skin and rub the chicken breast with coconut oil or butter between the breast and the skin. This makes the chicken breast extra juicy.

4. Cook

Your chicken is now ready for the oven. Place your entire baking tray into the middle of the oven and immediately reduce temperature to 200°C/400°F. Cook the chicken for about 1hour 20min. You can baste the chicken half way through, taking juice from the bottom and pouring them on top of the chicken. You can also drizzle juice or a little water on the veggies if they start getting too dry.

5. Carve & Enjoy

Once chicken is cooked, remove and let sit for 15 minutes before carving.

Carefully cut down between the leg and the breast. Cut through the joint and pull the leg off.  Repeat on the other side, then cut each leg between the thigh and the drumstick so you end up with four portions of dark meat. Place these on a serving platter. You should now have a clear space to carve the rest of your chicken. Angle the knife along the breastbone and carve one side off, then the other. When you get down to the fussy bits, just use your fingers to pull all the meat off, and turn the chicken over to get all the tasty, juicy bits from underneath. You should be left with a stripped carcass, and a platter full of delicious meat you can serve with your beautiful roasted veggies.

What to do with leftovers

This is the wonderful part about roasting chickens, unless you have a big family, there are almost always leftovers! Now you can use that chicken for many other quick recipes during the week. Here are a few ideas…

• Salads
• Enchiladas
• Tacos
• Burritos (Gluten Free tortillas of course:) )
• Sandwiches
• Soups
• Stir fry’s
• With any kinds of veggies

Now you have the carcass and bones of the chicken. How many of you used to throw this part away? I know I have in the past. This part of the chicken is actually very valuable! It is perfect to make a mineral rich, nutrient dense broth!

How To Make a Chicken Broth

1. Place chicken carcass in a large pot.

2. Throw in some veggies. My favorites are 1-2 red potatoes cut in quarters, 1 onion chopped in half, 1 head of garlic, 1 leek in pieces, 2 large carrots cut in chunks.

3. Some essential add-in’s: 1 tbs. apple cider vinegar (this helps draw the minerals out the of chicken bones making the broth more nutrient dense), 2 tbs. coconut oil, Himalayan or Celtic Sea Salt to taste, optional spices: cayenne pepper, tumeric, Italian seasonings.

4. Bring all ingredients to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and let soup simmer for 12-24 hours.

5. Once broth is done, let cool, then pour soup over a strainer into another large pot to remove vegetables and bones. You can choose to later chop up veggies and add back into the broth or you can discard veggies with bones.

6. Store broth in glass jars in the fridge or freezer. You will see that after broth is cold it will look like it is gelatinous a bit. This is amazing…this gelatinous look is incredible beneficial for the digestive tract in particular. This broth is amazing and incredibly nutrient dense, made with only pennies!

7. You can add veggies, tempeh, kelp noodles, or anything you’d like to your broth. In the above picture, I added kelp noodles & an organic hard boiled egg. It was perfect!

Let me know how your Roasted Chicken turns out! Have a beautiful Thursday!!

XOXO,