Country Dinner

Welcome to my very first blog post! Time to get comfortable, I have so much to share. Lots of fun tips, along with recipes to keep you happy and healthy! Follow me by email to easily stay connected! Let’s get right to it. First up, Country Dinner.

I love gravy. Seriously, I could eat bowls full of gravy everyday, and I would be a happy camper. Shortly before I went paleo, a dear friend of mine served me the most amazing dinner I’ve ever had. Roasted chicken, veggies, gravy, and toasted bread. I nicknamed it country dinner, because it’s the most comforting meal ever.

After taking the plunge into the paleo lifestyle, I was determined to create a new version of this meal to suit my new way of eating.  Thank you, Carissa, for inspiring me to create this amazing meal!

This is the perfect meal to serve to your family and friends. Or just serve it to yourself. It’s that good. I completed this meal with my super popular grain-free drop biscuits. Enjoy!

Ingredients 

Chicken –

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 lemon, cut in half
• 1 large bunch of thyme/rosemary
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Twine/thread

Vegetables –

• Any veggies that you love roasted! There are no rules, have fun with it!
• I used the following – 3 Japanese purple yams, 4 carrots, 4 parsnips, 1 lb. brussels sprouts, 1 yellow onion (quartered)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 5-6 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt & Pepper

Gravy –

• Drippings/brown bits from chicken/veggies
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbsp arrowroot starch (optional)

Biscuits –

• The updated recipe can be found HERE

Instructions –

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

First, chop up those veggies! Place the veggies in your roasting pan. Toss the veggies with the melted coconut oil, garlic, salt & pepper.

Time to wash your chicken! Remove the giblets; rinse the inside and out. Salt & pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the lemon and thyme. Tie the legs together with twine (or thread, like I did). Place your chicken, breast side up on your rack, over the veggies. Rub the outside of the chicken with coconut oil and season with salt & pepper.

Roast the chicken for 1 ½ hours, or until it reaches 170 degrees.

Remove the chicken from the oven and set on a cutting board to rest, uncovered for 20 minutes. While the chicken is resting, let’s make the gravy!

Place the roasted veggies in a separate bowl. Pour the chicken broth into a blender. Use a wooden spoon to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. You want all of those yummy brown bits! Add the drippings/bits to the blender. Add the arrowroot, if you’re using. Blend until smooth. Pour into a pan, and heat over medium low heat until hot and bubbly. (Another option is to add all of the ingredients directly into your pan, and blend with an immersion blender.)

Slice up the chicken and serve with the vegetables and biscuits. Pour the gravy over your entire plate, because gravy is delicious. Eat up!