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carrots, cooking, food, fresh herbs, garlic, gluten free, healthy comfort food, healthy dinner, lemon, parsley, potatoes, roasted chicken
People are often scared of the whole chicken. I admit, my first roasting experience was slightly intimidating, but once you take the plunge it’s actually so simple (and the flavor doesn’t compare to that of a typical boneless chicken breast).
Today’s healthy redo is taken from the oh-so classic baked pot roast, potato and carrot dish. Growing up in the Midwest this was a family staple, especially Sunday afternoons. Crock pots and ovens all over my tiny town of 1,000 were bubbling up with this down home, soul comforting recipe. My remake replaces the high fat beef roast with a whole chicken including a gourmet twist… lemons, garlic and herbs.
The healthy adaptation still has the rustic look of the traditional version, but contains better for your body stats. Here’s the breakdown:
Pot Roast, Potatoes & Carrots … 550 cal / 13g fat / 5g sat fat
Lemon-Herb Chicken, Potatoes & Carrots … 390 calories / 10g fat / 2.5g sat fat
Now that’s a recipe remake, an easy, one-pot comfort meal for under 400 calories. Gluten-free option below.
LEMON-HERB ROASTED CHICKEN & VEGETABLES
serves 8
• 4 lb WHOLE CHICKEN, good quality
• 10 cloves GARLIC, peeled
• 1 large YELLOW ONION, sliced
• 10 oz BABY CARROTS
• 1 1/2 lbs GOLDEN or WHITE POTATOES, cut into cubes
• 3 FRESH LEMONS
• 2 tbsp OLIVE OIL, EXTRA VIRGIN
• 4 tbsp MIXED FRESH or DRIED HERBS (parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage – 1 tbsp each)
• SEA SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE
• 8 oz CHICKEN BROTH or STOCK, LOWER SODIUM*
*Gluten-free option: use GF chicken broth.
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray then layer onion slices, carrots and cut potatoes; sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.
2. Combine zest of 3 lemons,
6 cloves grated garlic,
2 T. olive oil, 3-4 T. fresh herbs (or 2 T. dried herbs) in a small bowl, set aside.
3. Wash whole chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
Cut one lemon in half and stuff with 4 whole cloves of garlic inside the cavity of the chicken (remove any giblets first if inside), sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the chicken on the vegetables in roasting pan and season outside with sea salt and pepper. Rub the lemon-herb mixture over the entire skin of the chicken.
4. Pour 8 oz chicken broth or stock over the vegetables, cover and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours until chicken breast reaches a temperature of 180 degrees and thigh reads 190 degrees. Serves 8, 4 oz chicken and 1/8 of the vegetables.
VARIATIONS: Substitute chicken breasts for whole chicken and reduce baking temperature to 375, and time to 30-40 minutes or until cooked through.
NUTRITION INFO PER SERVING: 390 calories, 10g fat, 2.5g sat fat, 28 carb, 5g fiber, 4g sugar, 32g protein
Awesome photos!!
This looks fantastic! I love all the colors. Every time I try to roast a whole chicken I feel like the breast is dry and the rest is underdone. Maybe I will give it another try!