Word of the Day: Roasted

I seriously love my Crock Pot! It makes dinner....and my life so much easier. Last night, I decided to make Roasted Garlic Crock Pot Chicken and Roasted Thyme Potatoes. Hmmm....I sense a theme. Apparently the new "it" form of cooking is roasting. Or at least it is at this house. So you should get some practice with the word of the day and make these two recipes....tonight. (Note: both recipes are fairly healthy. You can always use low-fat butter on the chicken and garlic is good for your heart, helps lower cholesterol, and has been known to help prevent cancer.)

Roasted Garlic Crock Pot Chicken
adapted from The Petite Filet

1 5lb. whole fryer chicken
10 cloves garlic
1 stick butter
2/3 cup chicken broth
salt
pepper
paprika

Rinse chicken inside and out and pat dry. Season skin and inside cavity with salt, pepper and paprika. Smash half of the garlic cloves and put in bottom of crock pot. Press the other 5 cloves in a garlic press (you can also finely mince) and smear them all over the chicken. Add chicken broth to crock pot, and then add chicken. Cook for 6-8 hours.


Roasted Thyme Potatoes
recipe courtesy of The Petite Filet

3 baking potatoes, cubed
olive oil
salt
pepper
thyme

In a bowl, drizzle cubed potatoes with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and thyme, then toss to coat. Spread potatoes out on a baking sheet, and roast in oven at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

The chicken turned out absolutely delicious. The garlic butter sauce gave it a great flavor and it was not at all dry. Word of warning, though: have a meat fork or tongs ready because the meat will be falling off the bone and hard to pick up otherwise.

The potatoes were good, but not my favorites. I generally like my potatoes a little softer. But Ryan absolutely loved them, so I guess it's just a matter of preference. However, like I said, they were still good. You should definitely try them and decide for yourself. And maybe I'll come up with a way to make them a little softer.