I hope you all had a fantastic 4th of July!
We had a lazy day at home mostly spent playing in the backyard. There was baby pool splashing, sidewalk chalk drawing, sparkler waving, ball kicking and burger grilling.
And lots of pictures on Instagram. If you don’t follow me there yet, you should! It’s my most favorite social media platform and I might go so far as to say I have an addiction. Lol.
Anyway, back to this recipe…
I debated about whether I could classify this as eat.clean.QUICK. because the cook time isn’t quick, but I have to say this is probably one of the EASIEST dinners I’ve made in a while.
The prep time is less than 10 minutes and then all you have to do is throw it in the oven for an hour or so and BOOM. A healthy, amazingly delicious dinner is on your table.
If you’re a working gal (or guy) you could come home from work, spend 10 minutes putting this together, throw it in the oven while you relax, read the mail, play with your kids, veg out on the couch, whatever….and in just over an hour dinner will be done!
Just pull it out of the oven and plate it up.
So yes, the total time for this one is around an hour and a half, but most of that is just waiting for the bird to cook.
Have I sold you on it?
I hope so. Because there are many 30 minute meals that I make that take so much more effort and WAY more cleanup. This dinner is so easy I’m tempted to make it once a week.
I posted a yummy Herb Roasted Chicken recipe before, but this version is different in that you only season the bird with olive oil, salt and pepper. And to make it Paleo-Friendly I subbed cauliflower for the white potatoes.
You could also sub sweet potatoes, but let me tell you the roasted cauliflower flavored with the chicken juices is OUT OF THIS WORLD.
I seriously could have eaten it all myself.
But Andy and Grace loved it too so I was forced to share :)
I only used onions, carrots and cauliflower when I made this meal, but you could certainly add other veggies like celery, turnips, and any other root vegetables that you like. Broccoli might even be good!
(Be sure to save the carcass to make Homemade Chicken Stock or Soup)
Without further ado, I give you Paleo Roasted Chicken and Veggies…
- 1 Organic Chicken (3-4 lbs)
- 1 head of cauliflower,
- 1 bag of baby carrots
- 2 large onions
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 450*
- Rinse the chicken by running it under cool water while turning it around to expose all sides to the water
- Use a paper towel to thoroughly dry the chicken, then place it breast-side up into a large roasting pan
- Rub olive oil all over the top and sides of the bird
- Generously sprinkle salt and pepper over the top and sides of the bird
- Cut the onions into large chunks and scatter them around the bird
- Scatter the baby carrots around the bird
- Cut large floret sections of the cauliflower from the stem and scatter them around the bird.
- Put roasting pan (uncovered) into the oven and set timer for 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes, use a baster (or large spoon) to gather juices from the bottom of the pan and pour them over the veggies and the bird.
- Put pan back in the oven for the remaining cook time (30 more minutes for a 3lb bird and 45 minutes for a 4lb bird)
- My bird was 4.25lbs and baked for a total of 1 hour and 25 minutes which was perfect! It came out fully cooked but still juicy
- BE SURE TO LET THE BIRD SIT FOR AT LEAST 5 MINUTES BEFORE CUTTING INTO IT. This will allow the juices to re-distribute throughout the bird, instead of running out leaving you with a dry bird.
