I rarely get to watch TV during the day, but a few months ago while in my first trimester, I milked my pregnancy for all it was worth and layed around as much as I could.

During this time, I was able to catch a few episodes of Martha Stewart Living. I love that show. The specific episode I caught was with a chef, Jonathan Waxman. In this episode, Waxman demonstrated how to make the perfect roasted chicken with spinach and mashed potatoes.

My mouth watered while watching it…I couldn’t resist the yumminess. A few days later, I make his exact dinner…and it was delicious. Fresh sauteed spinach is divine and healthy at the same time. His potatoes were good and simple to make, although I have to admit I’m still convinced my potatoes are better. Seriously,…all the fats make anything better. But, the chicken, oh the chicken,….it was DELICIOUS. As J said, “the best chicken he has ever tasted”. It was so moist and so tender,….delicious and juicy. And, oh how simple!!! You just rinse off your chicken in the sink and pat it dry (Waxman said to let it soak in warm water for 20 minutes, but I was honestly too impatient). After it’s dry, you pour a bit of olive oil in a roasting pan, coat your chicken with olive oil, rub in some salt and pepper (and whatever else you’d like,…I added fresh thyme and also threw in some carrots and potatoes, tossed in olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper), and throw it in the oven at 475 degrees. You let it cook for about 45 minutes or until the thermometer reads 165 degrees.

Oh man,…it was so wonderful. I encourage you all to make it! Don’t be scared by the “whole chicken” aspect,….they’re not scary at all to cook. This was such an easy meal and very rewarding. You can check out Martha’s video here.

And not only that, but the next day I made homemade chicken salad with the leftovers. I’m not sure which was better, the chicken or the chicken salad!

I diced up the leftover roasted chicken, added in a dollop of sour cream, a few tablespoons of mayo, diced onions, a bit of celery, a dash of cayenne pepper, salt, and ground pepper, and the secret and yummy ingredient,…..diced strawberries!! The mixture of onion and strawberry together was wonderful.

After toasting a couple pieces of sourdough bread, I threw on a few slices of romaine lettuce and then the salad and VOILA! one of the most delicious sandwiches i have ever tasted.

See, now why would you not want to roast a chicken?! You can get a two-for-one meal out of it!

Try it out and enjoy!!

Tags: chicken, chicken salad, Easy Dinner, easy meal, jonathan waxman, Martha Stewart, martha stewart living, potatoes, pregnant, roast, roasted chicken, sandwich, spinach, strawberries

This entry was posted on November 13, 2008 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Lydia's Food and Feasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.