I just finished a pretty awesome piece for the August/September edition of Paleo Magazine. Of course, by August you’ll probably forget all about it, so I’ll remind you then, but I’m giving you a heads up now because this chicken is yummy.
The article is about the National School Lunch Program. School lunches in the US are pretty frightful. If you don’t know much about them, I encourage you to educate yourself at least by clicking a few of these links here.
Fed Up With Lunch photo
Fed Up With Lunch photo
What’s Inside The 26-Ingredient School Lunch Burger?
Health Code Violations in NYC
Vegetarian School Lunches
So, the post is about the program and what to do as an alternative. With the long list of ingredients in something which should only contain one, like a burger for example, and with as many as three servings of grains per lunch, vegetable oils, feedlot meat and milk, artificial flavorings and colorings, and many more offenders, there is only one answer: Pack a lunch.
One of the healthy lunch ideas I offer in the article is this roasted lemon chicken. It’s super easy to prepare and healthier than anything you’ll find in school.
Roast Lemon Chicken Recipe:
In a baking dish drizzle olive oil, lard, or butter on the bottom of the pan and sprinkle a whole chicken with salt and pepper. Cut a lemon into quarters and stuff inside the bird. Cut another lemon in half, cut an onion into quarters, cut a few red potatoes in halves, and break a couple of cloves of garlic in half. Place alongside the chicken. Cover. Depending on the size of the chicken, cook for 1 to 2 hours. Remove the cover for the last 30 minutes to brown the skin. When the internal temp reaches 150 degrees, remove, carve, and drizzle juices over the pieces.
Enjoy!
05.06.2013 at 11:44
This looks amazing, will have to try it tonight!
08.06.2013 at 11:50
Hey Peggy, I’m assuming you put it in the oven? It’s “roasted” after all, but the picture shows it in a cast iron skillet, so I wanted to be sure. Anyway that sounds delicious. Are the onion and garlic just for scenting/flavoring? I know they are big no-no’s for fodmaps and that both you and Evelyn avoid them.
By the way, I was relieved to see that your book showed up in a kindle version as advertised and I am enjoying it! Without giving my husband a heart attack either.
10.06.2013 at 10:27
All I have in the house are cast iron skillets. I cook with them on the stove and in the oven. But yeah, it’s an oven dish! The onion and garlic add flavor to the juices, yes.
I hope you enjoy the kindle book (in private)!
12.06.2013 at 11:46
What temp do you set the oven for?
12.06.2013 at 11:51
I seriously need a lesson on posting recipes! Sorry about that. I set it for 350. The time the bird is in the oven for totally depends on the weight though.
12.06.2013 at 12:00
It’s all good, I would probably forget alot more than that!
13.06.2013 at 05:42
OMG, I read the link for vegetarian school lunches and had to pull myself away from the comment section. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I couldn’t stop staring… all the stupidity…
13.06.2013 at 06:54
I’m curious now but not sure I could stand it…
17.06.2013 at 08:42
This recipe couldn’t be any simpler to put together. I’ve been making some variation of it for years and it’ll always be a staple. The lemons really “brighten” the bird, if ya know what I mean…