Saturday night at home: Roast chicken with fall vegetables

Meg thinks this is naughty

Yesterday was a gorgeous October day: clear skies and a cool crisp breeze that carried a hint of smoke and decay.  It was a good day to cook something in the oven and we had a whole chicken that needed attention, so I decided to roast a chicken with some fall vegetables full of beta carotene.  I got a huge sweet potato, a lovely golden acorn squash, some carrots and some gorgeous Brussels sprouts.  The carrots were roasted with the chicken so that they absorbed some of that lovely chicken flavor.  I got a late start, so I poked holes in the sweet potato and microwaved it for 4 minute, then cut it into 16 pieces.  I cut the squash in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds and stringy parts, then cut it into chunks and microwaved them for 3 minutes.  I tossed the slightly cooked squash and sweet potato with some olive oil, salt and pepper and laid out the pieces in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Those went into the oven for the last half hour of cooking, along with the Brussels sprouts, which I cut in half, tossed with olive oil, garlic, fresh thyme and salt and pepper, then placed face down on a smaller cookie sheet.  Simple, easy and full of autumnal flavors that created an irresistible smell in my kitchen.  We watched a couple of episodes of Sons of Anarchy while we ate our dinner and that was our relaxing Saturday night at home.  After dinner, Derek stripped the meat from the bones of the chicken and threw the carcass in the crock pot with some carrots, onion and celery and this morning we woke up to the aroma of rich chicken stock. I’m sure I’ll think of something to do with it before the week is over.  Buon Apetit!     



Roasted fall vegetables with sage