Emma’s Sunday roast chicken recipe

Now maybe for some of you this is a weekly tradition but for me I was excited to make a roast chicken as it’s something I don’t do very often.

In the last 6 months, I have really reduced the amount of animal product I eat. I am not vegan or vegetarian. I love fish, eggs, dairy and some meats so I know I don’t want to give them up 100%, plus they offer some vital nutrients. But I feel any reduction in the amount of animal products I eat will make such a difference and is the single biggest way to reduce our individual impact on the Earth. I feel extremes sometimes don’t work for people so even adapting “meatless Mondays” could be a great way to reduce your animal product consumption. Do what works for you. I feel like we should never judge each other’s dietary choices but awareness of what your consuming is a good take away message.

I sourced this chicken from Tesco and it was free-range. I do my best to get free-range or organic animal products where possible.

Ingredients

• 1.5kg chicken
• 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil
• Dried basil
• 3 or 4 carrots chopped
• Two red onions quartered
• 500 potatoes halved
• 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
• Paprika
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. To begin, pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.
2. Next add your chicken to your roasting dish along with one the tablespoons of oil and lemon juice.
3. Massage the liquid all over the chicken
4. Add some salt, pepper and dried herbs.
5. Put in the oven for 45 minutes.
6. Next prepare your veggies by chopping up the potatoes and carrots and quartering your red onions.
7. Place all the vegetables together in a bowl and cover in oil and paprika.
8. After 45 minutes take the chicken out of the oven and transfer to a plate.
9. Leave the liquid in the tray and toss in the prepared veg.
10. Place the chicken back on top and pop in the oven for a further 45-50 minutes.
11. When finished place the chicken on a plate and cover in foil for 5-10 minutes
12. You can use the liquid as a gravy
13. Serve up with some additional greens or stuffing, You can easily swap the veg listed for any vegetables you have in your press, parsnips, courgettes, sweet potato or squash would all be lovely editions.

Hope you enjoy!