I took a hiatus from entertaining these past few months. Life, work, baby and all of the above seemed to put planned out dinner parties on the back burner. However the change of season has me re-inspired to dust off the old apron and toast a good meal with friends. My latest kitchen obsession has been this lemon and garlic roasted chicken with a quinoa salad—light, fresh, healthy and a crowd pleaser. The best part (which makes it worth every extra minute of effort) is that there’s always tons of leftovers that make a mean chicken salad the next night. My kind of meal.
Quinoa Salad

1 box of Quinoa
About 15 cherry tomatoes cut in halves
1 cucumber
1 bundle of asparagus
5 large cloves of crushed garlic
1 lemon
1 shallot
1 container of mediterranean feta cheese
1 bushel of fresh dill
1 container of pitted greek olives

In a medium sized non stick pot over high heat add butter or olive oil. Add 2 cups of Quinoa. Let the quinoa brown a tad. Bring to a boil simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff it and let cool.

Bring a pot of water to a boil lightly salt your water and add in your asparagus. Let them rest in the boiling water for 30 to 50 seconds and immediately place then in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Remove after about a minute and chop.

Finely chop the dill, cucumber and shallots, combine them in to a large bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes, olives and asparagus. Squeeze both halves of lemon juice in your bowl with all your veggies, add salt and pepper to taste. Add in the quinoa one scoop at a time, tossing lightly. Add the feta cheese, toss and leave in your refrigerator for an hour. Serve with roasted chicken.

Lemon Garlic Thyme Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken
4 cloves of garlic
1 lemon
1 yellow onion
3/4 butter
1 bundle of thyme
Pre heat oven to 375. Remove chicken innards. cut onion in half and give one half of the onion a rough chop and place chopped onion in side of the chicken along with your bundle of thyme, garlic cloves, and 3 slices of lemon.

Place your bird breast up and place butter cubes under the skin of the chicken along with a few slices of lemon and crushed garlic. Season both sides of chicken to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  When you place your bird in the roasting pan (or a dutch oven) be sure you put the chicken breast down. This will give you a better flavor profile to your meat and also keeps your chicken breast moist. Place a few sprigs of thyme on the top and place in the oven. Cook your bird for 1hr and 30 minutes (Cook time depends on the size of chicken) When the chicken is done it will be golden brown with a crisp skin.