Roast Chicken, Roasted Carrots and Parsnips, Roasted Beets and Fennel, Baked Yams, Sauteed Greens

Baking and roasting are two (of many) very similar techniques for using the oven that I'm utilizing to make the dishes bellow. The original recipes were within 25 degrees Fahrenheit, so I just put them all into the oven together at 400 degrees F because that's close enough. If the temperature had been 50 or more off, then I could not have done this. Also, certain items that cook for short amounts of time or are large and solid have a hard time going to a different temperature. The greens I just sauteed in a pan, though I think that if I do this again in the future that I will make 2 to 3 times as much due to the unexpected amount the greens cooked down. Everything is gluten free and dairy free except for the yams, which are deliciously terrible for you.

Roast Chicken
Serves 12

Ingredients:
6 pound whole chicken with neck and gizzards removed (that's all the bonus stuff inside that can be used, along with the carcass, to make chicken stock)
6 sprigs fresh rosemary to stuff inside of chicken
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, removed from stem and minced (that just means chopped really small)
3 cloves garlic
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Stuff chicken with whole sprigs of rosemary and garlic cloves to add aroma and help keep the chicken moist
3. Run your hand under the skin covering the breast meat to make a pocket for the chopped rosemary and place chopped rosemary evenly under the skin of the breast.
4. Cover all of the skin in olive oil to allow it to crisp nicely without burning.
5. Grind salt and pepper over the skin to taste.
6. Lay on a bed of root veggies, like the carrots and parsnips listed bellow.
7. Roast until the internal temperature of the breast meat reaches 170 degrees F, about 1.5 hours.
8. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before carving to allow juices to settle, this will keep it nice and moist on the inside and the skin will be lovely.

Roasted Carrots and Parsnips
Serves 12

Ingredients:
6 large carrots, peeled and chopped into fork size pieces
6 large parsnips, peeled and chopped into fork size pieces
2-3 Tbs olive oil
Fresh tarragon

Preparation:
1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Bake at 400 degrees F in a dish until slightly tender, about 1.5 hours, turning about every fifteen minutes. If making with the rest of the dishes listed here, make sure they still have a bit of texture to them so that not everything is mushy in the meal.

Roasted Beets and Fennel
Serves 12

Ingredients:
3 large beets, peeled and cut into fork size pieces with greens reserved for Sauteed Greens listed bellow.
2 large fennel bulbs, chopped into fork size pieces with stalks and tough parts discarded
2-3 Tbs olive oil
Fresh tarragon


Preparation:
1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Bake at 400 degrees F in a dish until tender, about 1.5 hours, turning about every fifteen minutes. Dish is done when fennel can be easily pierced with a fork.


Baked Yams
Serves 12

Ingredients:
12 lbs sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cubed
12 Tbs butter
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 packages marshmallows

Preparation:
1. In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter.
2. Add brown sugar, ginger, all spice, and clove, mix until everything is combined.
3. Pour sugar mixture over yams and toss to coat. (Wash your sauce pan right away, or at least, leave it to soak or it will be impossible to clean later.)
4. Bake at 400 degrees F in a baking dish until tender, about 1 hour, stirring the yams every fifteen minutes to coat with sugar glaze.
5. Cover yams in marshmallows and increase oven to 500 degrees F, bake until marshmallows are golden, about 3 minutes.

Sauteed Greens
Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:
1 huge bag of Power Greens
Leaves from beets, chopped into 1 inch pieces
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. In a skillet over high heat, warm oil until fragrant but not smoking.
2. Add greens, you might need more than one round but they cook really fast so it shouldn't be a problem.
3. Stir constantly until the greens have wilted and turned a deeper green.
4. Put into serving dish. Salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Pork Loin with Fennel and Apple with Spinach, Strawberry, Honey Mustard Salad

Today the windows in the kitchen were being replaced, so I made sure to concoct a dish that would be unlikely to get any dust or debris in it because it would be contained during the construction. The workers made many comments about it smelling really good in the kitchen and I felt bad that I couldn't offer them any. On a positive note, the dish was pretty easy to make, I managed to get everything from my cooking cleaned up before I had to drop off the food, and there are new windows in the kitchen so it won't be freezing in there when it gets cold outside.

Because it was a bit chilly in the morning, I was feeling like something a little hearty as well as healthy. There were also some things that came from the garden that were screaming to get used, like fresh rosemary & thyme and some beautiful exotic blue potatoes & yams. Besides that, I had a few different types of greens that I wanted to use up before they went bad and a bunch of strawberries that were on their last legs and a pomegranate that needed to be eaten asap. Here's what I came up with.

Though the pork was delicious, I think that next time I will have to reduce the sauce to make a lovely gravy rather than leave drippings at the bottom of the pan to drizzle. Find out how to do that yourself in the optional side note. Also, carrots and celery might make a lovely addition to the roasted veggies, so gauge the veggie level to your group

Roasted Pork Loin with Fennel and Apple

Serves 12 

Ingredients: 

3-4 lbs pork loin (or 2 average size loins)

4 Tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper

3 fennel bulbs quartered with ends removed

1 large white onion quartered with ends removed

6-8 medium sized potatoes and yams cut into fork sized pieces

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 sprigs fresh thyme

3 cloves of garlic, smashed to release scent and flavor

6 small apples, cored and quartered

2 Tbs apple cider vinegar

1 cup apple cider

2 Tbs grainy mustard 

Optional gravy:

1/2 cup white cooking wine

2 Tbs cornstarch

Preparation: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Lightly coat the pork in freshly ground salt and pepper.

3. In a large cast iron skillet heat half the olive oil over high heat until it smell like olives, but not to smoking. 

4. Sear the pork loin in the skillet to seal in moisture. Be careful not to let the pork burn, just have a nice crust of brown on the 4 long sides. Use strong tongs to turn the meat, try not to pierce the meat.

5. Set aside the seared pork to let it rest. 

6. Add the remaining oil to the cast iron pan and saute the fennel, onion, potatoes/yams, rosemary, thyme, and garlic, stirring frequently until the veggies are browned and the whole kitchen smells good. 

7. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, apple cider, and mustard. 

8. In a large baking pan, place the apples and veggies at the bottom, then gently lay the pork on top, coat everything in apple mustard sauce. 

9. Cover the baking pan in tinfoil and bake until the internal temperature of the meat is 140 degrees F (about 30-45 minutes). 

10. Set aside the meat and tent with tinfoil. Return veggies to the oven until fennel and potatoes are soft enough to easily pierce with a fork. 

11. Slice the meat and serve over the veggies. 

Optional: To make gravy, transfer all but 2 Tbs of drippings from the bottom of the baking pan into a measuring cup so it is easy to pour later. Put the pan on the stove top over medium heat and deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup white wine (that means scrape off all the stuff from the bottom while cooking it in a liquid). Dissolve 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/4 cup of water to make a thin paste. Whisk the cornstarch and the deglazed pan drippings together until the gravy has formed a thick roux, then slowly add 2 cups of pan drippings you had set aside and whisk until combined. If you don't have enough drippings, use veggie stock to make up the difference. At right is a video on how to do it with flour, which is more traditional, but if you need gluten free, then the thickening power of cornstarch is what you will substitute for flour. 

Spinach, Strawberry, Honey Mustard Salad

Serves 12

Ingredients: 

1 large box of baby spinach (or 2 bags of baby spinach)

1 bag of shredded kale

1 bag of shredded cabbage

1/2 carton of strawberries, sliced with tops removed

1 pomegranate, seeds carefully removed (or a couple of handfuls of already separated pomegranate seeds, less work but use what you have)

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 large cucumber diced

1 bottle of honey mustard dressing (I like Brianna's Dijon Honey Mustard Dressing because it's delicious and gluten free)

Preparation:

1. Combine the spinach, kale, and shredded cabbage by placing a handful of each into a medium size bowl with about a Tbs or two of dressing, mix thoroughly before transferring to serving bowl; repeat with all of the greens. 

2. On top of the greens layer the heavy items: pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, strawberry slices, and cucumber bits. 

3. Serve with extra dressing on the side so that people can put more on if they like.

Balsamic Vinegar Date Chicken with Roasted Carrots and Parmesan Brown Rice

Here I go with the baking again, but I just love it for feeding large numbers of people because it requires less unwieldy handling of large hot skillets. Meat and fruit are a combination that make me really happy, stone fruit cooks at the same rate as meat and releases juices that make the meat taste so yummy. Pair a roasted meat with a roasted root vegetable and it is a match made in heaven, all it needs is a carbohydrate and it is a well rounded and seasonal meal that leaves you time to clean up while things cook. Fantastic!


Parmesan Brown Rice
Serves 12

Ingredients:
4 cups long grain brown rice
8 cups water
1 1/2 cups shredded parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. In a large pot combine water and rice; bring to a boil.
2. Cover and reduce heat to low, simmer for 50 minutes.
3. Fluff with a fork and add parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.


Balsamic Vinegar Date Chicken
Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:
6 lbs skinless chicken thighs (if you go boneless, you only need 4 lbs)
salt and pepper
3 Tbs white cooking wine
1 Tbs minced fresh peeled ginger
1 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 package dates (about 1 lb), pitted
1 Tbs corn starch

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Wash and pat dry chicken. Place into a deep baking dish and sprinkle the dates on top.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the wine, vinegar, and ginger.
4. Cover the chicken and dates in the liquid, then cover the baking dish with tinfoil.
5. Bake for 45-60 minutes until the juices run clear and there's no pink when the chicken is cut into.
6. Remove the chicken and dates to the serving plate.
7. Cook down remaining liquid in a skillet. Add cornstarch to thicken the gravy. Strain to remove any ginger chunks and unincorporated cornstarch globs.


Roasted Carrots
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 large bag of baby carrots (about 1 lbs)
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Tbs fresh rosemary removed from the stem and chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (if you have to, 425 F will work)
2. Open the bag of carrots, pour in the oil, garlic, and rosemary, seal the bag and shake to mix thoroughly. Salt and pepper the carrots while in the pan for an even distribution.
3. Pour carrots into a baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes until able to pierce easily with a fork, moving the carrots every 10 minutes to prevent them from burning to the bottom.
*Optional: replace garlic and rosemary with 2 Tbs of fresh chopped dill.
*Optional: replace carrots with other root veggie, like potatoes, beets, yams, or parsnips, or a sturdy veggie, like eggplant, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, or asparagus. Cooking times will vary with different veggies, so keep an eye on it.