I Quit Sugar for Life (31 page)

It’s one of my greatest thrills: creating meals that require fewer steps and less guff, for more ease when you’re busy.

Fact: every meal in this section is a one-pot wonder!

SERVES

This roast chook recipe is one of my favourite mish-mash meals for it combines most of my eating principles in one tasty package: sustainability,
economy and flow. It also combines the best of a number of flavour and cooking techniques, starting with cutting the whole chook in half, thus shortening the cooking time and not requiring constant
turning, and, to my mind, making for a moister roast. Plonking things directly on top of the onion adds so much flavour, and stuffing butter under the skin ensures extra crispy skin. PS make sure
you save your bones . . . you’ll see why.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (gas 6). Toss the onion (except the ends) and garlic in a roasting pan. Using kitchen scissors, cut the chicken in half down either side of the
backbone (the chunkier, bonier spine, not the smoother breast bone) and snap or cut the wings at the end joint and remove. Also cut off any chunky bits of fat.

Put the spine, wing ends and excess fat in a big stockpot with the onion end cuts and set aside to make some luscious Leftovers Chicken Stock (see
here
).
If you don’t have time to make stock immediately, just put the whole lot in a bag in the freezer, adding veggies, meat and herbs to the bag until you’re ready to boil it all up.

Pat down the chicken, inside and out, with kitchen paper to ensure it’s dry. Now, this is the fun bit: with the chicken breast-side up, using your fingers and working
from the chicken’s ‘bottom’ end, pull up the skin from the flesh and slide your fingers all the way up. Poke half the butter and some of the herbs up under the skin.

Squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken and rub the juice on both sides, retaining the lemon halves, then rub down with salt and pepper and the remaining herbs. Splay the
chook and place in the roasting pan with the underside of the chicken on top of the onion and garlic, then place the squeezed lemon halves underneath and dot little chunks of the remaining butter
over the top. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes, basting the chicken with the juices from the pan at 15 and 30 minutes.

To make the sweet potato casserole, lightly grease a small pie or baking dish using the oil, butter or ghee. Combine the sweet potato, almond milk, syrup, vanilla powder and
salt, and pour into the baking dish. Toss the remaining ingredients in a small bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the top of the sweet potato mixture. Place in the oven with the chicken when the
chicken has about 25 minutes to go.

The chook will be ready when you poke a drumstick with a skewer and the juices run clear, not pink. When ready, remove the chook to an ovenproof serving
dish, along with the garlic and lemon, then cover and leave in the still-warm oven (you can turn the oven off). Place the roasting pan over medium heat and deglaze with the stock, vermouth or wine:
bring to the boil, scraping the onions and fatty bits off the bottom of the pan. Add a little more liquid if you like, then reduce. You can strain the sauce, but I prefer not to.

Cut the chicken into pieces and serve with the garlic, lemon and sauce, along with the sweet potato casserole and greens (Brussels sprouts work well).

SOLO COOKERS + FOURSOME FAMILIES:
One large chook will make 6 portions. Once you’ve finished dinner, pull any remaining
meat from the carcass and place in ½ cup (75 g) portions in zip-lock bags in the fridge or freezer. You can use these to make Roast Dinner Gratin (see opposite) or My Anti-Anxiety Soup
(below).

SUSTAINABILITY TIP:
Any leftover Sweet Potato Casserole can be reheated and eaten for breakfast or as a dessert with yoghurt or
Whipped Coconut Cream (see
here
).

NOTE:
Avoid roasting a frozen chook. They can be too watery. If you do use a frozen one, always thaw it in the fridge, uncovered,
on some kitchen paper and pat it dry before cooking.

SERVES