Simple Roast Dinner

My husband and I decided to host the family for Christmas this year, I have never made a roast dinner in my life and my mother in law a pro at roast came to my rescue and shared her tips and tricks with me. Since then I have made it several times including the Christmas dinner, though we couldn’t host anyone due to CoVid restrictions and I am looking forward to next Christmas already.

This recipe I am sharing with you is simple, tastes delicious and will have your family reaching for second helpings. You can use fresh vegetables or you can prep your vegetables in advance and seal in freezer bags and freeze. For example – I peeled and cut the parsnips and prepped the brussel sprouts in lot and put them in freezer bags. That way my prep time when I make a roast is reduced by almost 30 minutes.

I don’t cook everything from scratch, for example – I am happy to use supermarket cranberry sauce and gravy made from granules, it just works! So long as you use good quality Chicken and Veg, its OK to cheat on the trimmings.

I made this today for lunch and it turned out just perfect.

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken Breasts (defrosted)
• 2 potatoes (peeled and cut in half)
• 1 Carrot (peeled and chopped) I like to cut them into little square as shown in the picture
• 12 Brussel Sprouts (6 per serving)
• 2 Parsnips (peeled and chopped into long pieces)
• Roast Seasoning (any supermarket brand) optional
• Oil for roasting

Method:

Heat the oven to 180°C (mine is a fan oven), if you are using a normal oven then heat it to 200°C.

Place the chicken breasts in the center of the roasting tin, place the chopped parsnips around them.

Boil the potatoes for about 7 minutes and then transfer to the roasting tin around the chicken.

Pour a little oil over the chicken, potato and parsips (no need to drown them in oil, a couple of tablespoons should suffice). At this point add the roast seasoning and mix well.

Place the roasting tin in the oven and cook for about 40 mins (I had to cook for slightly longer about 50 mins as my chicken wasn’t completely defrosted).

Half way through the roasting, turn the potatoes and parsnips, to ensure they brown all over. Baste the Chicken and vegetables with the juices that will be been released.

When there is about 15 minutes remaining on the roasting timer, you can start to steam the brussel sprouts and carrots.

Once the roast has been in the oven for 40-45 minutes use a meat thermometer to check whether the chicken is cooked (if it reached 165°F) when inserted in the thickest part, your chicken is ready to serve.

Serve with cranberry sauce and chicken gravy ( I used Aah! Bisto Chicken Gravy Granules).