My "one pot wonder"

Inspired by Nikky's roasted chicken and vegetables dish on this week's Top Chef (and by my own boredom, hunger and desire for something simple and delicious), I took a stab at my own version tonight. Protein, starch and vegetables all in one roasting pan.

I lined a pan with aluminum foil and put a couple glugs of olive oil in there. Then I surrounded the edge of the pan with new potatoes, sweet potatoes, white onion, squash, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, carrots and mushrooms (stems off). Spiced with some more olive oil, salt, pepper. I also put about six cloves of garlic (whole, peeled) in the center (underneath where the chicken was about to go).

For the chicken, I did a pretty standard roasting set up -- olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder all over. Stuffed it with lemon slices (keeps it really moist), garlic cloves, a few bits of shallot, and a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme. I also put a bit of rosemary and thyme leaves all over the whole operation (along with a bit of sea salt and a couple pepper corns), as well as a couple pads of butter under the chicken's skin. The chicken plopped right in the center, surrounded by the veg, folded the tin foil over the veggies, and into a 400 degree oven it went.

When the chicken was done cooking, I put it to rest on a separate plate. In the roasting pan, I squeezed the lemon wedges that cooked inside the chicken, and smashed the garlic cloves up. It made a sauce to stir the veggies all around in. All that went on the carved pieces of chicken. And it was faaaantastic. One dish, super easy, and completely satisfying and delicious. I'd show pictures, but my camera battery was dead and I was too hungry to let the pretty food wait for a charge.