A Roast Chicken is a Happy Chicken

The conventional advice of blogging goes something like this—find your niche. Find your niche, then niche it up some more. I ignore this advice. There’s too much to say and share to narrow this space down to vintage quilting patterns from early New England settlers (just made this up, but not a bad topic). If I were, though, going to talk about just one thing, commit my heart and soul to one area that defines me at my core and Sea Salt Simple as a vision, I might have to talk about this and only this—the roast chicken.

Roast chicken is all things good in life. It’s simple, it’s healthy, it looks fancy, feels indulgent, but I repeat, it’s simple. It’s one pot, one step, one easy way to take care of yourself and your family. There is nothing, nothing! like the smell of chicken roasting in your oven—the snow can be flying, the wind howling, your toddler screaming, but the calm and sense of well-being that the roast chicken aroma can provide cannot be underestimated. You can do it. I promise. For the very easiest recipe, go with this NYT version.

For a slightly more in-depth (flavorful) version, head on over to Not Without Salt and make this very easy Chicken Braised in Milk with Bacon, Lemon, and Rosemary. 

Two substitutions we sometimes make—pre-cut pancetta for the bacon and also throw in some carrots, parsnips, or other root veggies alongside the new potatoes for a complete meal. And, most importantly–serve it alongside a crusty bread, because like most things worth making for dinner, the best part is the juicy goodness you can dunk your bread into.

Yes, the chicken is upside down. It’s charming.

But wait, there’s more

For a reinvention of leftovers idea, do what I do with about 80% of my leftovers—make it into a bowl. Start with a base of grains (basmati or brown rice, quinoa, etc.), top it with the leftover warmed pulled chicken and veggies, dollop it with a scoop of Greek yogurt, and maybe (but you don’t have to) sprinkle on some extras—feta, kalamata olives, cucumbers, fresh herbs (tonight I went with pomegranate seeds). If you’ve got any of the chicken juice left from the bottom of the leftover dish, warm that and pour that on, too. Maybe better than night one.

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