Fed my family of 5 an absolute feast – main, sides, and dessert for $28 – that’s $5.60 per person. You can’t buy a chicken meal from the Colonel that cheap!
Epic flavours, wholesome, seasonal ingredients and delicious – OFC. No unrealistic pricing because I made the most of the special and Imperfect Picks range at my local Harris Farm Markets.
The trick isn’t spending more – it’s creating abundance in what’s available with :
✔ seasonal produce
✔ one tray = for max flavour
✔ comfort food that hits… I mean who doesn’t love a home chicky roast dinner and crumble for dessert?
$5.60 per person at Harris Farm and a few extra ingredients, like spices and the top for the crumble (oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon) from home.
This is smart cooking, friends.
SMOKEY CHICKEN ROAST WITH VEGGIES
Serves 4-5
1x 1.5kg chicken, rinsed and patted dry
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp smoked paprika
½ tsp onion powder
1 ½ tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper
3 medium potatoes, cut into 3cm chunks
1 large sweet potato, cut into 3cm chunks
1 beetroot, peeled, cut into 3cm chunks
2 large zucchini, cut into 3cm chunks
Salad:
1 iceberg lettuce, cut into wedges or shredded
2 cucumber, sliced
PLUM AND PEAR CRUMBLE:
3 pears, core removed, cut into 2cm pieces
6 blood plums, seed removed, cut into 2cm pieces
3 tbsp raw sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup water
Topping:
1 cup oats
¼ cup spelt flour
3 tbsp raw sugar
80g butter, melted
Heat oven to 220C. Pat the chicken dry. Combine smoked paprika, onion and garlic powder in a bowl and sprinkle all over the chicken, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil . Arrange the potato, sweet potato and beetroot around the chicken, drizzle with remaining extra virgin olive oil, season and toss. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 220C, then drop the heat to 180C and bake a further 20 minutes per 500g chicken weight i.e. 1 hour for the 1.5kg chicken. Whilst the chicken cooks, make the crumble. Combine pear and plum in a 20cm skillet or similar. Add ¼ cup water with the raw sugar and cinnamon and toss. Bring to a simmer on medium heat on the stove top to start the cooking process whilst you make the crumble topping. Combine oats, spelt flour, sugar and melted butter in a bowl and toss. Spread over the top of the cooked fruits and then put it into the oven to cook for 30-40 minutes or until it’s all golden on top. Add lettuce and cucumber to a salad bowl, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic and set on the table. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving with vegetables and side salad. Take the crumble from the oven once cooked and allow to come to room temp, or still warm (pending your hungry family or friends), before scooping and serving.
