Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Gleaner Member
6 days ago
2 min read

By Cindy H.

Each week, Cindy prepares a main dish to serve about a dozen seniors at her community lunch. Mostly using ingredients from Gleaners, her senior community garden, her local Buy Nothing group, and the free bench in her community. Plus, a few items bought with SNAP, Cindy is able to create nourishing meals that feed many and leave extras for neighbors to take home.

This week’s dish was a hearty Roast Chicken and Vegetables, made in a roasting pan and served with forks, spoons, napkins, and bowls all from Gleaners. A neighbor even shared dried rosemary from the community garden, packaged in Gleaners’ single-serve cookie bags. Talk about community coming together!

This recipe can easily be halved and adapted to whatever vegetables you have on hand. Cindy suggests trying Gleaners Brussels sprouts, which are delicious roasted.

Roast Chicken and Vegetables 🍗🥕

Ingredients

From Gleaners

5 Russet potatoes, washed, peeled, cut into chunks (bad spots removed)
4 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch chunks (bad spots removed)
2 Tbsp celery leaves, chopped
5 golden beets, peeled and cut into chunks
2 large yellow onions, peeled and quartered
¼ cup canola or vegetable oil, divided
2 large lemons, cut into eighths, divided
2 whole chickens, about 3 lbs each
½ cup butter or margarine, cut into 8 pats
2 aluminum roasting pans
1 single-serve cookie bag (for dried herbs)

From SNAP

4 large carrots, peeled and quartered

From the Garden

18 sprigs thyme, divided
2 Tbsp rosemary, divided
4 sprigs sage, divided
8 cloves garlic, smashed (or 2 tsp garlic powder), divided

From Buy Nothing

2 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp pepper, divided

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Grease the roasting pan with half the oil.
Add potatoes, celery, celery leaves, beets, and carrots to the pan. Toss with half the thyme, rosemary, sage, garlic, juice of 4 lemon wedges, remaining oil, and half the salt and pepper.
Place the chickens on top of the vegetables. Stuff cavities with remaining lemon wedges.
Season the chickens with remaining herbs, garlic, salt, and pepper. Tuck pats of butter into wings and drumsticks.
Roast breast-side up for 30 minutes. Flip, baste, and roast another 30 minutes. Flip breast-side up again, baste, and roast for a final 30 minutes.
Check doneness: juices should run clear. If not, continue roasting in 15-minute intervals, basting as needed.
Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes.
Carve the chicken and serve with roasted vegetables (using a slotted spoon if serving without liquid).

Serves ~12

💡 This recipe is a beautiful reminder that meals can be made from what’s available when communities share resources. Thank you, Cindy, for showing us how Gleaners products can bring people together around the table.

✨ Have a recipe you’d like featured? Send it to media@gleanerscc.org and you may see it in an upcoming blog post!