Roasted Root Vegetable Soup with White Beans

This is a great soup for a cold winter day. Roasting the veggies first makes them a little sweeter and adds more depth to the flavor. Feel free to change around the veggies if you have anything else that might work - a rutabega, more or less of various veggies - it's pureed, so you can really experiment. I added the white beans to make it a little creamier, but you can omit if you want.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 leeks, rinsed and halved, dark leaves cut off

3 cloves garlic

1 turnip, peeled and cut into pieces

1/2 a small butternut squash, peeled and cut into pieces

Sunday Night Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Yesterday was a rainy Sunday and I was just really in the mood for a nice roast chicken. Roasting a chicken on top of root vegetables is always an easy 1-pot dinner, and I had some extra time, so I brined the chicken, too. (You don't need to brine a chicken if you buy a kosher chicken.) I think it added some flavor and made it juicier. This is a really nice Sunday dinner, hearty and with good flavors. Feel free to change the root veggies and do carrots or potatoes or butternut squash - whatever you like.

Ingredients:
1 4 lb chicken

Brine:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup salt
4 garlic cloves, crushed
tbsp black pepper corns
water

Garden Planning

Jamie and I are starting up the garden this weekend (according to Martha Stewart, it's a tradition to plant peas on St. Patrick's Day!). We're building a second garden bed, too, giving us double the room! I've been thinking for weeks about what I want to plant this year, even trying to plant my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants from seeds. Above is my sketched out plan (the beds are 8'x4' so it's easier to make a grid). The peas will be done by mid-June, so they'll allow the plants near them more room to grow later. And I only plan to do about 2 rounds of carrots and beets, so the bushy tomatoes can grow into that space. The bed nearer to the hedge will have the lower plants and the bed further the higher (so they both get as much sun as possible). I can't wait to start eating fresh vegetables! (It is sad to think how long I'll have to wait - we probably won't even get the peas until late May.)

Wish us luck!

The plan:

Plants in Bed #1
Swiss Chard
Brussel Sprouts
Herbs (basil, mint, thyme, oregano, marigolds, nasturtiums...)
Carrots
Beets
Sweet 100 Tomatoes (and probably Green Grape tomatoes)
Zucchini
Cucumber
Peas (only for the spring/early June)

Plants in Bed #2
Hot peppers
Herbs (same as above)
Eggplant
Tomatoes
Peas (only for the spring/early June) 

Roast chicken with root vegetables

I went to the farmers market yesterday and picked up some good looking root vegetables. I got carrots, yellow carrots, a parsnip, a big leek, a turnip, and an onion. I decided they would be a great bottom to the roar chicken recipe I'd been wanting to try from Simple Fresh Southern. It turned out wonderfully, even though I nixed the wine because I didn't have any. It filled Jamie's apartment with the most homey, delicious smell (he smelled it when he opened the door downstairs and was hoping it was coming from his apartment). Plus with only two of us, there's plenty for leftovers and stock - after we cut all the meat off I threw the carcass in the freezer along with the neck.

Ingredients:
A selection of root vegetables including some onions and/or leeks
A few sprigs fresh time
Oil
1 lemon
1 3.5 lb chicken
1/2 cup chicken stock

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Cut up vegetables into 1 inch chunks and put onto a cast iron skillet with thyme. Toss with oil, salt, and pepper.




Rinse and dry the chicken and bring to room temperature if you have time. Put the chicken breast side down on the vegetables. Squeeze half a lemon over the back and season liberally with kosher salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes. Take the skillet out of the oven and carefully take off the chicken. Stir the veggies and add 1/2 cup broth. Put the chicken back on top back side down and squeeze the remaining lemon half in top and season liberally. Put back in the oven for 40 minutes. Take it out and let rest tented in foul 10 minutes. Carve up and serve with veggies!