Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (3-4 pounds)
- 1 medium to large eggplant
- 1 large sweet onion; such as vidalia
- olive oil or butter
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 lemon; quartered
- salt & pepper
Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Skin the eggplant and cut into 1/2 in. cubes. Cut the onion into eighths. Place the onion and eggplant into a large rectangular baking dish and pour oil and salt over the vegetables and mix them so the oil is evenly distributed. Remove any giblets from the chicken, rinse, and dry the bird. Coat the chicken with the olive oil and salt and pepper the outside of the chicken. Place the lemon in the cavity of the chicken. Push the vegetables to the outside of the baking dish and place the chicken, breast side up, in the dish.
Place the dish in the oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, pull the dish out and stir the vegetables around so that the eggplant doesn't burn. Roast the dish for another 20 minutes.
After the dish has cooked for a total of 45 minutes, pull the dish out and tilt the chicken up to pour the juices into the pan and mix the vegetables with the juices. If the chicken is browning too quickly, loosely cover the dish with aluminum foil. Return the dish to the oven for another 20-30 minutes until the chicken registers 170 on a meat thermometer.
Once the chicken reaches 170, remove the dish from the oven and place the chicken on a platter or cutting board, covering it with aluminum foil and rest the chicken for 10 minutes. After the chicken has rested, carve the chicken and serve it with the vegetables, spooning the juices from the baking dish over the chicken and vegetables.
Comments
I was inspired to try this recipe from a wonderful recipe in the Bride and Groom cookbook by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Barber. The original calls for potatoes and carrots and a whole lemon. I substituted eggplant in lieu of the potatoes to reduce the carb count of the dish and reduced the lemon because I find a whole lemon to be too much. I also eliminated the carrots because I don't enjoy cooked carrots, but you could include carrots, or use a whole lemon to suit your taste. The original recipe also calls for a sprig of fresh rosemary. I find the simplicity of the salt, pepper, and chicken fat mixed with the vegetables to be very flavorful and I don't think the rosemary is necessary.
The eggplant does not withstand the heat in the same way the potatoes would, so it helps to stir the eggplant a few times during the cooking. Even though the eggplant is not as pretty as roasted potatoes and the eggplant may blacken some, the eggplant roasts nicely and tastes wonderful.
Links to Other Simple, Low Carbohydrate Dinner Recipes
- Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin over Apple and Onion
- Coconut Crusted Chicken (low carb "fried chicken")
Links to Simple, Low Carbohydrate Breakfast Recipes
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