Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Spiced Chicken with Stubby Vegetables

You might think this blog is about cooking. It's not.

It's about dancing.

I finally put my finger on it this weekend. For me, dancing is my only true artistic expression. I am not able to gracefully paint, sculpt, sing or make music. I can barely knit a scarf together, sew a crafty apron, or hang pictures creatively on the wall.

But dancing... dancing taps into that deep soul space that is the essence of life. You know where that is, don't you? I find it a necessary component to living the life of "thrive". Creative expression in any form is one of the basic tenants of living well!

Cooking, on the other hand, does not necessarily feed my creative outlets in the same way. It's more of a means to an end. Cooking good food feeds my belly, which in turn feeds my body, which in turn feeds my ability to dance when the dancing music is ON.

I simply share these recipes here so that I have a visual reference of all of my favorite fast, easy and cheap recipes. Maybe if my collection gets big enough I won't have to formulate meal plans every week, instead I'll simply choose a plan from the past and execute. Which will give me more time for dancing in my living room with my kids. Which feeds my soul.

All that to say, tonight's dinner is nothing you don't already know how to cook. This is my reminder that I should make this meal more often. Let this be your reminder of truly how simple, fast and cheap it really is to throw a chicken in the oven.

Spiced Chicken with Stubby Vegetables

You'll need:
One whole chicken
a bunch of baby potatoes
a handful of carrots
a couple yellow squash
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp honey

(Remember, this is all open for artistic expression. Use the veggies you have hanging around. Use as much as you think your family will eat. There are no hard and fast rules here.)

The Rub:
1 TBS paprika
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp white pepper
3/4 tsp oregano flakes
1/4 tsp sugar
dash of cayenne pepper


The Preparation Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix Rub ingredients together. Set aside.

Cut up vegetables into stubby little squares, triangles or any other shapes that come naturally to you and your knife.

In a large bowl, toss veggies with olive oil and garlic salt.

Lay down in the bottom of a baking dish. Add a tablespoon of water so the veggies stay moist until the juices from the chicken start flowing.

Jump, twirl, pirouette.

Wash chicken. Pat dry. Place on top of veggies in baking dish, breast side up.

Prepare the chicken by massaging some olive oil over the skin. Then massage the spice rub all around the tender skin of the young chicken. (Gross, I know. But this is what it said on the package. Tender Young Chicken.) Now sprinkle all the leftover spice rub over the veggies.

Drizzle the teaspoon of honey over the veggies. (But don't put it on top of the chicken. It'll make the skin burn to a dark crisp. Trust me. I know from experience.)

Place baking dish in preheated oven. Bake for approximately 1.5 hours (for a 4 lb bird) or until a meat thermometer reads 180-185 degrees.

When finished cooking, allow to sit for ten minutes so the juices absorb back into the meat. Cut and serve. Don't forget to spoon the juice over your plate. The spices and chicken drippings make an awesome 'gravy'.

And of course, our favorite dancing song of the day...

The Wood Brothers - Luckiest Man

3 comments:

  1. I have seen you in action my sweet friend & dancing truly is your artistic expression!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am making this tonight AGAIN. It was wonderful!!

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  3. Wonderful Maggie! So glad you like it. Hope you have extra tonight because it makes the most amazing leftovers, too.

    ReplyDelete

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