Roast Chicken with Vegetables

This is my family's favorite comfort food meal. The smell of chicken roasting in the house is enough to send my husband and daughters into fits of "I love my mom" and "What a wonderful wife I have." and torrents of gratitude for my apt domesticity. I'm no June Cleaver. But, when my children are joyous over a home-made meal of roast chicken and vegetables I feel like the best mom in the world.

My dear, sweet, food-phobic husband absolutely hates his veggies. He will generally very begrudgingly eat whatever I put in front of him as long as it doesn't contain anything remotely cruciferous or fungi. But, the complex flavors and comfortable textures of a roasted melange makes him go back for seconds and thirds sometimes. I can even put greens - cut into tiny pieces and not too much - into the mix and not get a single hesitation from him. That's gold baby.

I prefer to roast chickens whole. I'd love to say I buy them all local and raised by a friend who I know spoils her chickens rotten with organic feed and room to roam and eat bugs. Unfortunately, the price is prohibitive for us right now and I usually make due with store bought. I do try and buy free-range or organic when I can. I steer clear of chicken that is some percentage brine because it can make up to 15% of the weight of the chicken you are buying and I don't want to pay for salt water. I prefer to brine my own chicken - either overnight or for a few hours. It really makes a big difference in how nicely the chicken cooks up and how tender and juicy it is. I fill a bowl or bag halfway with water then add 1/2 cup of Real Salt, 1/2 cup sugar (whatever kind you use is fine. I use unbleached organic, but turbinado or sucanat works nicely) a splash of apple cider vinegar and a splash of Braggs (or tamari or soy sauce). You can add other things to your brine like garlic cloves, herbs, lemon juice, peppercorns. I don't usually do it unless I'm brining overnight and even then I usually prefer to add those flavors while the chicken is cooking.

After brining, take your chicken out and let it rest and dry off a bit. Set your oven to broil. Slather your chicken or chicken pieces with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, pepper, dried herbs, coriander, paprika and a little salt - you won't need a lot because of the brining. Put the chicken or chicken pieces face down in a pan and cover with tin foil. Let it roast for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes while you cut up some veggies.

I always use potatoes - I was lucky enough to get a huge sack of them from a farmer at the market for only $7 that should last us well into the winter. I've got it in a potato sack in my basement pantry where it will stay cool and should keep well. Any that sprout will get put into my garden next spring. You can add any combination of veggies along with the potatoes as long as they are cut uniformly. I'll use carrots, parsnips, green beans, onions, zucchini, swiss chard (which I'm still getting from the garden if you can believe it!) peppers, corn, fresh garlic, squash, tomatoes. Whatever I have available gets put into the mix. Pull out the pan of chicken and turn over. Surround the chicken with the veggie pieces and add about a cup of chicken stock or broth (a little white wine tastes nice too...). Turn your oven down to low broil and recover the pan with tin foil and cook for 45mins to an hour and a half depending on if you have a whole chicken, half chicken or pieces. You can take the pan out and check the temp of the chicken and stir the veggies around. When the chicken is about 150 degrees and the liquid in the veggies is starting to disappear I like to add a little fresh herbs if I got 'em. Then turn the oven back up to high broil and roast the chicken uncovered until the skin is brown and crispy. Remove the chicken and let it rest on a plate (under the tin-foil if you've still got it) while you roast the veggies a little longer until liquid is gone and there is browning on the potatoes and other veggies.

Serve, and reap the sweet, sweet rewards of your epic culinary finesse.