Sunday Dinner

We returned from vacation yesterday and there must be a thousand things to do today. Yard, garden, laundry, and dog all needed our attention. Usually we like to grill something on Sunday during the summer. Today we were desperate for a good meal that would not require much looking after.

This is a great recipe for roast chicken. It is yummy and will leave you with leftovers for the next day. I am also a fan of it being a one pot meal, leaving me time to do other things while it cooks.

Rosemary Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole fryer chicken

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

2 TBSP honey

2 TBSP fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried chopped or crushed in the mortar and pestle

2 cloves garlic minced

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, honey, rosemary, and garlic.

3 carrots cut into chunks

2 potatoes (sweet potatoes work well too)

1 large onion quartered

1 package of frozen brussels sprouts

2 yellow squash cut into chunks

2 turnips peeled and quartered

6 mushrooms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken in the middle of a 9X13 baking pan. Add the vegetables to the pan putting them in all open spaces. Top the vegetables and chicken with olive oil mixture trying to spread evenly. Salt and pepper everything to taste. Bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.

The other beauty of this dish is that if there is an ingredient you don't care for leave it out. By the same thought if there is something else you love, add it. Today I don't have brussels sprouts so I plan to serve a simple green salad with our meal. I was a vegetarian for three years and prepared the vegetables without the chicken. So, anything goes!

Here is what I like to do with the leftover chicken.

Chicken Salad

leftover chicken

1/2 cup or so of grapes, dried cranberries or raisins chopped

handful of chopped pecans

1 slice of onion minced

1 stick of celery finely chopped

1/4 cup mayonaise

1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt (I know it seems strange but, it lowers the fat and adds a touch of sweetness.)

1 TSP dijon mustard

salt

pepper

Pull the leftover meat from the chicken and chop. Add vegetables and fruit. Combine mayo, yogurt, salt, pepper and dijon in a small bowl. Add to chicken, vegetables and fruit.