Chicken Roasted With Potatoes
If you rather have a whole chicken dinner for Thanksgiving instead of Turkey, well this is it:
A Greek tradition in our family, a Sunday dinner serve with Tzatziki.
Good food brings people together. I remember when I was a little girl and lived in the Congo or Cyprus, my mum every Sunday will cook Roasted Chicken with Potatoes with lemon, lots of herbs and spices. Sunday was family time and this meal brought us together sitting around the table talking about everything and nothing.
The potatoes grown in Cyprus are the most delicious potatoes I ever had. They are grown from the southeastern coastal region which is known for their mineral-rich red soil. You can use any bake potatoes, of course.
Chicken roasted with Potatoes, our Sunday traditional dinner with the family.
Ingredients
1 Whole Chicken or cut up pieces of chicken legs and white meat
4 large Bake potatoes (peeled and cut each half lengthwise, you should have 8 half pieces)
If you don’t want to use potatoes you can use any vegetables like asparagus, or brocoli….
Garlic chopped
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Rosemary
Mediterranean Oregano
cayenne pepper
cinnamon
Olive oil
2 Whole Lemons
1 cup of water
Preparation
Preheat oven at 425 degrees | Cook 1 hour
1- Chicken whole or cut up into pieces rinse and pat dry
2 – Potatoes, peeled and cut in half lengthwise (mum would make a small cut in the middle of the potatoes to make sure it cooked through)
Transfer chicken to a roasting pan and add the potatoes, placing them around the chicken. Add the rest of the ingredients distributing evenly across the pan.
3 – Fresh chop Garlic
4 – Sea salt and ground black pepper
5 – 1/2 cup Olive oil distributing evenly around the chicken and potatoes
6 – Fresh Organic Rosemary Leaves (Rosemary is used for digestion problems, heartburn, intestinal gas, liver and gallbladder complaints, loss of appetite, cough, headache, high blood pressure, and reducing age-related memory loss……..)
7 – Fresh Oregano Leaves or Mediterranean dried Oregano (Oregano Leaves is an important herb in the Mediterranean diet and is a medicinal herb loaded with antioxidants and nutrients)
8 – Sprinkle Cayenne Pepper over the chicken and potatoes. Ah, Cayenne pepper is the prince among all other herbs (Cayenne pepper removes the plaque adhering to arteries and cleans them, you can even help a person from a heart attack by giving him/her cayenne pepper in a cup of water. Cayenne pepper helps to make blood pressure levels normal, the capsaicin in cayenne pepper has the ability to kill cancer cells. It heals stomach and intestinal ulcers, it relieves pain caused by rheumatism and arthritis. Cayenne pepper is another one of nature’s miracle cures for many ailments. Boosting your metabolism to help weight loss; migraine relief; even – possibly – helping fight cancer: if you don’t have any in your spice cupboard already, be sure to get some.
Did you know if you refrigerate those from the red pepper family (paprika, cayenne, and chili powder) will prolong flavor and the freshness of the cayenne pepper?
9 – Sprinkle ground cinnamon over the potatoes (Cinnamon help reduce blood sugar levels, better brain function, prevents tissue damage, prevents brain cells from swelling and so much more…)
10 – I 1/2 cup of water, if need add more in the end
11 – 1/4 cup Squeeze lemon juice over the chicken and potatoes (lemons packed with Vitamin C)
Roast uncovered for a total of 1 hour. Halfway through (at 30 minutes), turn the chicken and continue roasting. Check periodically to make sure there is still a little water in the pan. If needed, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more, and squeeze a half of lemon around the potatoes.
Garnish with fresh organic Italian parsley or rosemary leaves and serve with tzatziki sauce, and a Greek Salad.
Bon Appetit!.
Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
Plain large (2 cups) Greek thick strain Yogurt (strain the yogurt to remove liquid)
1 large graded or fine chopped, peeled cucumber (remove cucumber seeds and mix with salt, set aside 15 minutes)
1 tsp fresh Mint, chopped
2 tsps Fresh Dill, chopped
1/2 lemon juice (optional)
Garlic, chopped (optional)
Sea salt
Preparation
Squeeze out the cucumber on a paper towel or cheese cloth (remove the water), then mix all above ingredients, chill 1 hour, and voilà, Greek Tsatziki sauce.
