Friday night I roasted a chicken. It’s my fall-back, easy, warm meal. On Thursday night I bought a chicken just for this occasion and completely forgot to pick up any veggies to roast. You see, I like to roast veggies with my chicken. I usually throw in onions, a bit of garlic, potatoes, carrots, and whatever else I’m craving at the moment. Fortunately, I had one sweet potato laying around and some regular potatoes (from Thanksgiving time), plus I always have onions and garlic, so the combination was perfect.

Now, I found a recipe to roast a chicken that is foolproof. Half-way through the roasting, I turn the chicken over to make sure it gets crispy on all sides. I have done this 4 or 5 times in the last 3 months and the process has yet to let me down.

So what do you need? A chicken. Time. A meat thermometer. An oven. Salt & Pepper. That’s it.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

• Unsalted butter
• Dijon mustard

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it’s a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

Now, salt the chicken—I like to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it’s cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don’t baste it, I don’t add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don’t want.

(Halfway through, I turn the chicken over. The original recipe doesn’t call for this).

Roast it until it’s done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint and eat that immediately. Remove the legs and thighs. I like to take off the backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat embedded here, and give the other to the person I’m cooking with. But I take the chicken butt for myself. I could never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular tip—until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the cook’s rewards. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant to be superelegant. Slather the meat with fresh butter. Serve with mustard on the side and, if you wish, a simple green salad. You’ll start using a knife and fork, but finish with your fingers, because it’s so good.

I really really didn’t plan tonight’s dinner. Andy offered to pick up food on his way home and, honestly, I felt so tempted to agree. I really didn’t have energy to cook or any idea of what I wanted to make. So I suggested the first thing that came to my mind – pasta. So pasta I made!

Once I got home, I looked through my fridge and kind of freaked out. I had no tomatoes, no sauce, no idea what to make with the pasta. I found some scallions that were close to being extremely gross and found a recipe for scallion sauce online. The only requirement was that the sauce had to be quick and easy. It was. I used angel hair pasta that cooked incredibly fast and the whole meal took less than 30 minutes to make. Lovely. I added some other veggies to the pasta and Andy added some sliced chicken sausage to his.

(forewarning – I barely followed the recipe and used it primarily as a guide)

Spaghetti with Scallion Sauce
(epicurious)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pasta of your choice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 cups chopped scallions (from 4 bunches)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped*
• 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup)

*I found this a tiny bit bland. I recommend adding a lot more garlic and, maybe, some heat (?)

Directions:

Cook spaghetti in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente.

While pasta cooks, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook scallions and garlic, stirring occasionally, until scallions are softened and garlic begins to turn golden, about 5 minutes.

Transfer scallion mixture to a blender and add zest, salt, pepper, remaining olive oil, and 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then purée until smooth. (Use caution when blending hot liquids.)

Drain pasta in a colander and return to pot.

Toss pasta with scallion purée, cheese, and salt and pepper to taste over moderate heat until pasta is well coated.

Last month, I discovered the sweet potato. Yes. Before then, I have never cooked a sweet potato. The only time I ate it was at my inlaws’ house on Thanksgiving. Finally, I got enough courage to make something with sweet potatoes. This salad was my first real dish and it turned out amazing. I since gave the recipe to a co-worker who said the same thing. Amazing.

Ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large onion, preferably red, chopped 
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh hot chili, like jalapeño
1 clove garlic, peeled
Juice of 2 limes
2 cups cooked black beans, drained (canned are fine)
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put sweet potatoes and onions on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, toss to coat and spread out in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, turning occasionally, until potatoes begin to brown on corners and are just tender inside, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; keep on pan until ready to mix with dressing.

2. Put chilies in a blender or mini food processor along with garlic, lime juice, remaining olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Process until blended.

3. Put warm vegetables in a large bowl with beans and bell pepper; toss with dressing and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day.

Yield: 4 servings

(Source of Recipe)