brandywine tomatoes, onions, basil and capers
This week we had among other things collard greens in our share, a couple of heirloom tomatoes, a bunch of basil, and some smaller sized onions. We had a whole organic chicken thawed in our refrigerator that needed to be roasted and so we threw together a delicious quick and easy dinner. Here’s how we did it: First, Jen turned the oven on to 425 to pre-heat, then we chopped some of our onions into full rounds, we ended up with about a cup or so. We laid the onions in a 12 inch round roasting pan, and then very coarsely chopped up the two heirloom tomatoes and put them on top of the onions in a ring around the outside of the pan. We had some garlic from the farmers market so we peeled a few cloves and put them in the pan whole. Next we took a few sprigs from the basil bunch and laid them in the pan. And finally about a half teaspoon of salt sprinked over it all – and what would make this better – capers and a light drizzle of olive oil! We used about a half cup of capers, if you don’t have capers, your favorite olives would work – just chop or slice them and add to the dish.
chicken dinner!
The next step is to roast the chicken. Jen gave the chicken a rinse and placed it on top of the bed of tomatoes and onions we had created, lightly salted the bird and put it into the 425 degree oven. After about 15 minutes we cut the heat to 375 and cooked until the juices ran clear when we poked the flesh with a knife – about another 45 minutes for a 3-5 lb bird. We also chopped the collards into one inch squares and blanched them for a side of greens. Here’s a link to the blanched kale and collards recipe (super easy).
The Ingredient list:
plated with blanched collard greens
1-2 Heirloom tomatoes
1 cup coarsely chopped onions
4 whole garlic cloves peeled
½ cup capers (or chopped olives)
a few sprigs basil, plus a few leaves chopped finely for garnish
½ teaspoon salt
drizzle of olive oil
