Oh my, the rain, the wind. It’s getting us down. But do we complain? Well…yes…we do a little bit if I’m honest. What we also do is draw up plans for building an ark and cook some comfort food. This was last weekend’s Sunday lunch and if this weather continues we may have a repeat performance again tomorrow!
I don’t think I can really claim this to be a recipe, as it just involves chopping, seasoning and putting something in the oven. But if you need inspiration for a family meal, or a meal for 2 with leftovers for another day (or two) then look no further.
This was lunch for a lazy Sunday. The sun finally came out for a few hours, after rain, storm and high winds. It was still blowing a bit of a gale so we headed to a nearby park instead of the beach where the pups could let off steam. We all got thoroughly muddy but returned home with “roses in our cheeks” and “the cobwebs well and truly blown away” (as my grandmother used to say of walks in the sunshiny cold of England). We also returned home to the delicious smell of roasting chicken and a toasty warm kitchen. Perfect!
Ingredients (to serve 4 hungry adults)
- 1 chicken weighing about 2kg
- 4 carrots, 2 parsnips, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 large sweet potato, 2 sticks of celery, half a fennel, a red onion, a white onion – all vegetables peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 1 head of garlic, cloves separates but not peeled
- About 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- A small glass of white wine (or water)
- 1 tablespoon of za’atar
- 2 lemons, halved
- Salt and pepper
Put all the vegetables and the garlic into a deep oven tray (line it with foil to save having to scrub the pan). Season with salt and pepper and pour over 2 tablespoons of the oil and the glass of wine and mix with your hands.
Sit the chicken on top of the vegetables, massage the rest of the oil into the chicken then season and sprinkle the za’atar over. Rub the seasoning in all over the chicken and put the halved lemons into the chicken cavity.
Cover well with a tent of foil and cook in a medium oven (about 180 degrees C fan or 200 degrees C normal oven) for 2 hours. Uncover about half an hour before you have finished cooking to brown the skin.
Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving and make sure to spoon all the lovely juices over the meat and vegetables when you eat.
Leftovers (you know how much I love having leftovers) went into sandwiches and a delicious chicken and vegetable soup.
Chica Andaluza 
A chicken and roast veggies of sorts is my staple diet while Pete is away. Hope you are staying warm and here’s to your weather improving Tanta.
Have a lovely weekend.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy – it’s especially good when you’re on your own as it sees you through for a few days! Have a great weekend too. It’s raining again here but I did manage to get out with the pups earlier when the sun broke through briefly 🙂
I was thinking we could start growing rice. Perhaps on the coast some salt marsh lamb 😉
That’s lovely chicken regardless.
I hear sales of wellies have soared too! When is it ever going to end? I am longing for the grey fog of my mountain (and I never thought I’d say that)!
I can believe that – I could put up with some Catalan humidity myself 😉
That’s tomorrow’s dinner sorted! I need to use up some tatters so I might make some roasties – but I’ll make them as lazily as possible.
I’ve done this with the potatoes in with the veg (they come out softer) or separately for nice crispy ones 🙂
Crispy vs lazy – that’s a tough one!
😉
Tiene una pinta buenísma, Tanya! En cuanto al tiempo, pacienca, es lo único que nos queda para no deprimirnos… Un abrazo muy fuerte,
G
Gracias guapa!
I think roast chicken with vegetables is the ultimate comfort food and perfect for a rainy day. I love that you used za’atar in your seasonings…what a perfect use for it and I’m going to have to try that on my next chicken. 🙂 Happy Saturday, Tanya.
Roast chicken (and of course good old chicken soup) is indeed the ultimate comfort food!
And it was all going so SWIMMINGLY well till you mentioned the “glass of wine”…much like those stout brownies I once tried to make that resulted in a full on Greco Roman wrestling match on the kitchen floor with Steve…wine is sacred stuff ma’am and not to be sprinkling (“from a height” ala Mr Jamie Oliver style) onto deceased fowl. The closest the wine is going to get to this chook is Steve standing watching me prepare it while he drinks said wine…
Check out this most delicious looking use for leftovers. My little antipodean heart sang when I saw this recipe and the yeasted buttery pastry that looks easy to make and the lovely shape and the fact that they are baked in muffin pans…
http://backyardfarmer.co.nz/2014/02/14/small-pies-with-leftover-filling/
Sweet aren’t they? I reckon that they would do justice to your next rainy weekends roasted winey chook leftovers 🙂
But when you open the wine you clearly have to drink it to avoid the terrible risk of it going off 😉 And I love those little pies with that bread type pastry – I need to make those SOON!
I knew you would appreciate them. I saw them on a new (small) blog that I follow and immediately knew that I was going to HAVE to make them ASAP. Wine can’t possibly go off here…it gets tossed into the fridge (Steve is a red wine plebeian) until it is just cold enough to be quaffed and down the hatch it goes! 😉
I’m a white wine gal myself but in Spain the red is generally drunk just slightly chilled – they say room temperature but I guess in the good ole days when wine was first being made you’d have looked for a cool cellar to store it in…so that figures! Wine never goes off here either – thank god we’re all so sensible not to waste it! And yes, loved that site, had a good look around…lots of lovely posts.
Steve is obviously part Spaniard then! I call him Don Quixote …so maybe I am not too far from the truth! 😉
Ole!
(but that makes me Sancho Panza 😦 )
Or you could be his beloved Dulcinea! (perhaps not Rocinante the horse 😦 )
There’s nothing quite like a roast chicken to comfort you when the wind and rain are battering at the windows. We’re in fact having roast chicken breasts on tray-baked veg with sweet peppers tonight – for the soothing effects!
Hope it soothed your soul – this weather is getting ridiculous!
Yummy! I usually roast on Sundays too (beef, lamb or chicken), so easy and yet delicious! But my chicken always turns out quite tasteless, probably I need to work on my rubbing harder, haha. Loved the idea of including fennel, parsnip and celery along with the classic veggies… Cheers!
Glad you liked it but I bet your roasts are fabulous and then you turn your leftovers into some amazing soup 🙂
Sounds easy enough! I wonder who I can get to cook it for me? 🙂
Aha – there lies the rub (as I think Mr Shakespeare said)!
Love lazy Sunday roast chicken dinners, particularly when grey skies are about! It’s still summer here, but we’ve had a couple of wonderful (and much needed) days of rain and overcast weather. Thanks for the inspiration Tanya, I’m heading off to find a chicken now for tonight’s dinner! 🙂
Sometimes, even at the height of summer, I crave a roast chicken…glad you’re getting some rain, you can have ours if you like 🙂
I LOVE roast chicken, it is one of my favourite meals, This is wondeful. Though I have to admit I LOVE a good bread stuffing too. (in the bird) not this odd american idea of calling stuffing; dressing and cooking it in a casserole dish!. yikes c
Oh yes, bread stuffing (and bread sauce too!)…maybe I’ll do that today 🙂 Stay warm miss c
I don’t know how to make bread sauce? Is that like a gravy?.. c
It’s very easy – put a bay leaf and some cloves into some milk, bring to the boil then turn off the heat and leave to infuse. Then drop stale white bread (crumbs) into the milk, warm gently, season with salt and pepper and some people like a little grated nutmeg. Stir until thick and smooth and serve with poultry. Some people also drop in a little knob of butter just before serving and stir it in until melted – serve just warm. Delish 🙂
This is my favourite meal! Hope you get to see more of the outdoors this weekend as well!
The sun has come out this morning so we’re heading off for a nice long walk! Have a good day too Tandy 🙂
I’m not sure why you wouldn’t call this a recipe.. it is for me! I love something I can tuck away in my mind, pick up the ingredients and make it in no time! I hope you dry out soon!! We have chinook winds.. gusting and headachey winds!xx
The weather is crazy for so many of us right now….hope it settles down soon!
My idea of a Sunday meal! The wind was horrible on Friday night here. I thought we’d blow away. I’m looking forward to spring.
Oh me too – I’ve had enough of this dreadful weather 😦
Love the touch of zaa’tar to the chicken, how delightful! Nothing beats home roasted chicken:)
Call it lazy if you like, Tanya, but I’ll call it delicious. I’ll never tire of roast chicken, especially when it’s done right. Roasting it atop root vegetables, allowing them to soak up all of those juices, is the right way. I’d say you did very well. Now, have a glass of wine and pass me a thigh, thank you very much. 😉
Oh I’m a thigh girl too and so is Big Man so we’d have to buy a mutant chicken (or extra thighs) when we eat roast chicken together 😉
I have this all ready to go tonight. This is my idea of lazy cooking when I can’t be bothered. It’s easier than takeout! Stay safe.
And probably quicker than a take out. We’re safe here in Bexhill apart from the endless rain and wind – Big Man is drawing up plans for building an ark 😉
Definitely quicker! Glad you guys made it through safely. We lost fence panels but I can live with that.
Glad you’re safe 🙂
🙂
Looks delish! Sometimes a simple chicken with a good stuffing and some seasoning is just the way to go. It’s very homey.
Good old fashioned comfort food!
it’s my favs meal ^^