Garlic Roasted Chicken and Veggies

So, I actually stepped it up a notch over the last 2 days and actually photographed the steps to my recipes as I went. Not this one though. I forgot/didn’t feel like messing with it.

We actually have a very nice camera but my tiny, dark kitchen doesn’t allow for the best of lighting to produce good pictures. With a bit of finesse and know-how I can do the Manual thing on the camera and make it work. Oy that means reading the stupid book I got the other day on Understanding Exposure. The laziness is extreme.

Anyway, this is actually something that I came up with on my own with a bit of her idea and little of what she suggested ending with mine! Neither the Man or I really enjoy chicken all that much.

Shhhhh! Don’t tell my father in law! Somewhere along the line he convinced himself that I LOVED chicken. So every time he wanted Mom G to make his mothers roasted chicken for Sunday dinner he would always state, “Well, Rachel loves chicken too. Right, Rachel, right? Isn’t chicken your favorite, isn’t it?” We might have at one time tried to correct this misconception, I assure you I still love chicken.

Anyway we do use a lot of chicken, it’s just always covered or smothered in something to cover its inevitable dryness. This recipe calls for whole chicken legs, which includes the thigh and leg and is only dark meat. Leave the skin on, don’t be a pansy it helps keep the meat moist (sorry Christa) and you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to. Although you will sadly be missing the best part.

INGREDIENTS:

• Whole Chicken Legs  – however many come in a pack is fine, 1 per person and freeze the rest or make them and take it for lunch. GIANT usually has whole chicken legs on special family pack.
• 4-5 Carrots – peeled cut into 1 inch sections
• 1 Bag Frozen Pearl Onions
• 4-5 Red Potatoes – quartered
• 2 Heads Garlic – yes, heads. No, I don’t mean cloves. Obviously you can cut down on this but I believe in Vampires and this helps.
• 2 tbsp dry rosemary
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil, Extra Virgin of course

DIRECTIONS:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees
• Place all veggies and one head of peeled garlic cloves in bottom of deep roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, 1 tbls rosemary, toss to coat
• Place the remaining peeled garlic, 1tbls rosemary, a 1/2 tbls olive oil and a pinch of salt on your cutting board and with your handy-dandy Pampered Chef Food Chopper start slapping! You want the garlic to be very small chunks
• Evenly distribute among the chicken legs putting some under the skin directly on the meat and some on top of the skin.
• Place the chicken in the middle of the roasting pan, not on top of any veggies, move the vegetables around so that everything fits.
• Cook for approximately 1 hour

Really you can use as many vegetables as you want. I like to have some left over so I use a bit extra. I usually do more potatoes because the Man isn’t a fan of the carrots. It’s a very forgiving recipe and there are all types of different combinations you can do.

I love it. It packs a ton of flavor. The veggies get tender and savory. It does take an hour to cook but the mean falls right off the bone, no knives necessary for this meal .