Garlic Roasted Chicken & Veggies: One Dish Meal

I'm often looking for meals that can be completed without hours of prep, but that will also deliver in the nutrition area. Canned soups, frozen dinners, and boxed-a-ronis are out for various reasons, but mostly because they are empty calories. By keeping to a nutrient-dense traditional foods diet, I know we are getting the nutrition we need to maintain and/or heal our bodies. However, it's often thought that keeping such a diet necessarily requires long and labor intensive hours in the kitchen. I will admit that I spend more time in the kitchen since getting married and becoming the main chef in the house, but I mostly think this is due to the fact that I like being in there. I love to experiment, try out recipes, throw eggs on the floor, and in general make a mess for my husband to clean up (Our rule: I cook, he cleans! Hehehe!).  Now I've gotten off topic. My main point: eating a healthy traditional foods diet, does not mean never stepping outside the kitchen. Today I have a new recipe to prove it. 

Since I was a little girl I have been enjoying this meal; my mom would prepare it to the delight of the entire family. It's just delicious! It uses everyday ingredients, can be adjusted to seasonal vegetable availability, and the best part is that the entire meal fits into one pan! Easy peasy with no more than 15 minutes of prep!

Garlic Roasted Chicken & Veggies

Ingredients

4 T. butter (or more) 

6 chicken leg/thigh quarters

24 garlic cloves, unpeeled

A variety of vegetables to fill the pan

Sea Salt to taste

1/4 cup Grade B maple syrup or honey

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a large roasting pan in the oven at 400 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, cut chicken leg/thighs apart at joints. Cut vegetables into bite-sized pieces.

3. Remove pan from oven when the butter is melted. Carefully tip pan to coat the entire bottom with the melted butter. 

4. Place chicken pieces, and harder vegetables (potatoes, carrots, etc) if using, and garlic into the pan. Turn ingredients to coat with melted butter. Leave chicken skin-side up. Then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sea salt.

5. Place pan in oven and cook for 40 minutes. Remove pan from oven, and baste chicken and vegetables.

6. Add softer vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, etc.) to pan and coat chicken and veggies with honey.

7. Put pan back into the oven for 20 minutes more. Then, remove from oven and enjoy!

This was shared at The Healthy Home Economist's Monday Mania.

Egg-cellence Challenge and CONTEST!

My dear readers,  I am very excited to offer you an opportunity to put your new food knowledge into action! My blogging friends over at Real Food Freaks have put together an Egg-cellence Challenge and Essay Contest.

Last month, in January, we learned that not all eggs are created equal, and that it's important to seek out pastured eggs with deep orange yolks - as the color of the yolks are indicative of the nutritional quality of the egg. The bloggers over at Real Food Freaks have also written some egg-cellent posts on the topic as well. I encourage you to check them out:

Egg-cellence Part 1 (good pastured eggs are WORTH the price)

Egg-cellence Part 2 (questions to ask your chicken farmer) - I highlighted this article in my post, Nourishing News: January 2012

Many of you may not egg-xactly be convinced of the superiority of pastured eggs. Or, it may be difficult on a budget to rationalize spending more on eggs. So, Real Food Freaks is offering an egg-cellent challenge (hehe, I just can't help myself with these puns!) in order to give you some motivation to take the plunge, and see for yourself just how tasty, delicious, and healthy these pastured eggs really are. 

The Prize!

What could you win for your labor? EGGS, of course! Delicious, delectable, pastured eggs from Tropical Traditions. FOUR dozen of these eggs will be all yours if you win the contest. So, let's take a look at the challenge.

Rules and Requirements

1)  Research your local farmers using the questions from the post, Egg-cellence Pt 2 (you can have up to a 2 hour radius and/or get the eggs at a farmer’s market if you choose).   Journal your farmer’s responses so you can remember exactly what was said about the eggs.  The other option (if you really cannot find good eggs fitting the criteria in your locality) is to splurge on an order of Tropical Traditions eggs.  These are the only eggs that we are aware of nationally that are acceptable.  You can get them here.  You CANNOT buy store eggs for this part of the challenge (even if the eggs are from a local farmer, because you have no idea how long those eggs have been on the shelf)!

2)  Buy one week’s worth of eggs from the researched local farm (for you only if you are on a tight budget).  If you can afford it,  it would be interesting to see the effect that this experiment has on your family as well.

3)  Make eggs each morning for breakfast for the entire week. You can make them anyway you choose. Then journal your hunger or feelings for the entire week.

4)  The following week, buy your regular grocery store eggs (any quality) and repeat the process from the week before (any preparation, but be sure to journal hunger and how you feel). Just make sure that you are using the same number of eggs – if you made a three egg omelet the first week, then make a three egg omelet the second week.

5)  Write an essay about your experience.  This is what you will submit to us for the entry.  Be honest.  If you went through the entire process and didn’t see a difference — tell us that.  But be as specific as possible about the process (what you found or didn’t find locally). We are looking for the following in your essay:

• 500 words or more

• Your experience in researching egg options (with farmer notes)

• Your week one experience with the best farm eggs you could find regardless of price (refer to your journal)

• Your week two experience with grocery store eggs (refer to your journal)

• Your overall impressions, feelings, what you learned (if anything at all) from this challenge.

• Submit the entry to admin@realfoodfreaks.com in a word document no later than February 28, 2012.

6)  Your entry essay will be judged on meeting the criteria in #5 and:

• The ability to convey the experience of the challenge in a relatable way

• The amount of local research that you did and whether you met the criteria for ‘local’ – within two hours of your home or using Tropical Traditions eggs if you exhausted those efforts locally.

• Honesty – if you didn’t notice a difference, then say so. It’s ok and it won’t disqualify you.  Just be sure to give as many details as possible to explain the process you took.

• Grammar (sorry, see #8 and you will understand why)

7)  The winning entry will be posted on Real Food Freaks.  If you are submitting an entry essay, you are giving us permission to use your story in the event that you win.  This is why grammar will count because we will not change your story at all to keep the integrity of your message.  If you are chosen as the winner, and there are errors, we may choose to send it back to you for revisions before we post it online.

8)  Entries should be emailed to: admin@realfoodfreaks.com  using the email address that we will be able to contact you if you win.


Happy eating!

Fresh: The New Food Documentary - Watch it for FREE

A new food documentary has just been released: Fresh. This film is upbeat, positive, and promotes the local, sustainable growing of food. It features Joel Salatin from Polyface Farms and Will Allen from Growing Power, Inc, among others. While it does expose the food industry for what it is (unsustainable and harmful), the movie focuses on what we can do in our own neighborhoods to support agriculture that is sustainable and beneficial to everyone. 


The best part? For the next couple of days it is FREE to stream from your computer and watch. How cool! I just finished watching it this afternoon, and it was great. Just follow this link to sign up to watch it for free. Go check it out!


Here's how the producers describe their documentary:

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.