Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Butternut Squash

I love Fall - the weather, the trees, the apple picking, the chill in the air... But mostly, I love the recipes. Yeah, summer is great, but the food is boring. There is just something about rich soups, stews, and casseroles, that makes Fall and Winter exciting and comforting. Anyway, I haven't cooked anything new in about a week, because we moved into our new house. The move was relatively overwhelming, so I took a break from being a cooking junkie, and only cooked a few oldies but goodies throughout the week.

Anyway, I had all the ingredients to this recipe, so I excitedly whipped it up last night. I followed some of the reviewer recommendations, about adding more potatoes and squash, and using chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken. I ended up using 3 boneless skinless breasts, 3 large potatoes, and probably about a pound of butternut squash - I bought the pre-cut kind, because it was on sale at our local market. Anyway, this recipe is easy, but it's fairly time intensive, because it needs to cook for an hour in the oven. Anyway, the result is a deliciously flavorful, 1 dish dinner, that my family devoured. I mean, literally, the casserole dish was basically scraped clean by Kevin, who absolutely loved it. In fact, here is a snippet of our conversation, after he took his first bite:

Kevin: "This is great! What's different about this?"
Me: "What do you mean? It's a new recipe..."
Kevin: "I mean, it tastes different. Like, it has a lot of flavor."
Me: "Um, thanks. I didn't realize everything else I make, doesn't have a lot of flavor... But... Okay."

Men...

Anyway, it you are wondering what it is that gives this one a lot of flavor, it's the addition of a whopping 2 tablespoons of minced garlic. Yes, we will stink for a couple of days, but it will be worth it. This was a good one. Butternut squash is on sale all over the place. Try this - you won't be disappointed (I hope).





You should make this. Kevin gave it 4 bowls, but I give it 5. It's a garlicky masterpiece.


Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Butternut Squash


Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 3 ounces chicken and about 3/4 cup vegetables)


2 tablespoons minced garlic, divided (I used bottled, minced garlic - it was much easier!)
1 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1 (3 1/2-pound) roasting chicken (I used 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, and cut them into large chunks)
Cooking spray
12 ounces red potatoes, cut into wedges (3 large)
1 1/2 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (about 8 ounces) (I used 12-16 ounces)
2 tablespoons butter, melted (I only used about a tablespoon, and it was more than enough)

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and sage in a small bowl. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under chicken. Rub garlic mixture under loosened skin. Place chicken, breast side up, on rack of a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Place rack in broiler pan. (I made the rub in a bowl, then threw the cut up chicken in the bowl and tossed to coat. I also used a casserole dish, as opposed to a broiler pan.)

3. Combine potatoes, squash, butter, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Arrange vegetable mixture around chicken. Bake at 400° for 1 hour or until a thermometer inserted into meaty part of thigh registers 165°. Let stand 10 minutes. Discard skin.

CALORIES 399 ; FAT 12.1g (sat 5g,mono 3.2g,poly 1.7g); CHOLESTEROL 147mg; CALCIUM 77mg; CARBOHYDRATE 25.9g; SODIUM 791mg; PROTEIN 43.8g; FIBER 3.4g; IRON 3.5mg

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2010