Weeknight Supper

Now that I’m back bringing home the bacon again, weeknight suppers have to be fast and easy.

Last night it was meatloaf, not exactly fast and easy…lesson learned.

Tonight, it was roasted chicken with lemon and herbs.  Not as hard as you’d think.  I started defrosting the frozen whole chicken on Monday morning, so that by this evening, it was ready.

I simply chopped up a few fresh herbs I usually save in the freezer. (left over from other recipes)  Tonight I used Rosemary, Oregano and Basil.  Although the basil was in the fridge from a recipe we had over the weekend.  I’ve found that you cannot successfully freeze basil unless you’re going to puree it with oil.  There is a way, I just haven’t taken the time to research it more.  When I buy basil for a recipe I usually try to have two recipes that week so I can use the whole package without wasting any.

I mixed the herbs with about a teaspoon each of salt/pepper.

I grabbed the chicken, loosened the skin and stuffed all those herbs under the skin, around the breast meat…and over the drumstick and thigh.  In the cavity of the chicken I stuffed leftover herbs and lemon halves.  On the outside of the chicken I poured a little olive oil on the skin and shmeared it all around, and then put some more salt/pepper on the outside. 

In a 425 degree oven, I roasted it on each side (breast side down) for 5 min each and then on its back for another 45 minutes.

It gave me 45 minutes to hang out, fold some laundry, and watch the ending of Pride and Prejudice. (to Keith’s dismay…he promptly left to watch baseball in the bedroom)

Whole roasted chicken needs to rest after removing from the oven for about 10 minutes….so that gave me plenty of time to heat up some leftover mashed potatoes from Meatloaf night along with some leftover corn on the cob from the weekend….and dinner was done.

I could’ve made gravy from the drippings, but that takes up more time.  Instead, I let the drippings cool and poured them into a plastic bag and threw it in the freezer.  Waste not, want not.

Highlights to take from this post:

Buy fresh herbs like rosemary, oregano, chives and keep them in the freezer

Plan meals that can go the distance….use the leftovers in a future meal that week.  One less thing to cook.

Whole chickens are cheap right now.  You can get a 4-5 lb chicken for around $5 bucks.  Takes care of dinner that night and lunch the next day and if you’re ambitious enough, bones to make homemade chicken stock.