My chicken, just before it went into the oven
After the excesses of Christmas, I’ve been cooking some lighter meals here recently. Admittedly, our Christmas really wasn’t too excessive. Yes, we had some mince pies (homemade, even the mincemeat) and some gingerbread biscuits, but all in all, we treat Christmas as a time to indulge in some really good treats, such as a wedge of Colston Bassett Stilton, rather than eating chocolates and sweets all day every day.
But still, we are feeling the need for some lighter meals. They need to be tasty, filling and warming, as it is January after all.
One of my favourite suppers is a roast chicken. Tonight, I made a roasted free-range chicken with an ovenbaked ratatouille and a crisp, green salad. I bought a 1.5 kilo chicken, which can serve four adults at 180C for around 90 minutes. I topped the chicken in the zest of a lemon, a chopped red chilli, some fresh rosemary from the garden and some Guernsey butter.
Although the chicken cost around £10, it will yield some leftovers for lunches, and I know the chicken was well-reared and tastes much nicer than cheaper birds. It was a very nice light, yet nutritious meal.
If any of you have some ideas for healthy meals you like to eat at home, please do share them, I’d love to hear them.
You’re making me feel very hungry! Love the idea of oven baked ratatouille with the chicken – tasty and warming as you say, plus the extra use of the oven while it’s on for the chicken appeals to me as I hate wasting energy. Totally agree with your Christmas idea of indulging in a bit of special home-baking and a few food treats instead of binging on tins of chocolates every day too.
Thank you Andrea. That’s a very good point about using the oven economically too. Hope you had a good Christmas. Best wishes, Charlotte