Green Chicken

Ok, I will admit... It doesn't instantly sound appealing, and the picture isn't that great either, but it is one of our favorite 'homemade' recipes! It is something my husband 'invented' one day and it has immediately won over the harts (and stomachs) of our children. This was back in the days that our oldest didn't eat much more than sweet sandwiches and fruits, and we were seriously worried about his protein (and vitamin) intake. So we were delighted he started to eat some meat. Nowadays we are lucky if he let's us eat some of the chicken...

So back to the not very appealing picture of the chicken, I have a presentation for my job to work on, so after some (but not enough..) research on the internet I bought a programm (picmonkey) to make some alterations and watermarks in my pictures. I started practicing on these watermarks and texts in my food pictures. Wow! It is funny to see how a rather dull picture can become something special with a bit of text in it. You can see for yourself here! Ok, the green may be a little too much shouting, but it's my first try. Give me a few posts before you judge it, and let me (a total digital moron) be proud of it.

So, would I recommend Picmonkey to you for upgrading your pictures? Only if you have a device with a flashplayer... Yep, I didn't do enough research (luckily it wasn't that expensive), and I do think that Picmonkey should have warned about needing adobe flash player before it sold me a subscription, but it doesn't work on Ipad/Iphone (yet). Basicly it doesn't work on the devices I take my pictures with and from where I work most of the time... So now I have to, very efficiently..., transfer my picures to the laptop first, add the watermark and texts, and transfer them back. But hey, I love what it does to my pictures and I haven't even tried all of the options yet. So I'll be working from my laptop more often, and I might have to start working on getting this website more professional now that my pics start to look so profi..?

Back to the chicken!
Green Chicken
Personal recipe

Ingredients for 4p:
1 whole chicken, preferably organic
4 (or more) hands full of basil leaves
4 cloves of garlic
60ml olive oil
1/2 lemon
400g of small potatoes
250g of mushrooms
6-10 scallions
250g of cherry tomatoes
Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celcius. (356 F)
Grind the basil leaves with 1 clove of garlic and some salt & pepper in a mortar, add half of the oil. Make a space under as much of the skin of the chicken as possible and rub the basil mixture in this space. Also rub some salt & pepper in the belly. Cut the lemon in peaces and put together with some tomatoes, scallions and garlic gloves in the belly of the chicken.
Put the chicken in a casserole and pour the rest of the oil on top and put it in the oven.

Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes. Add the potatoes, rest of the garlic, scallion, tomatoes and the mushroom in the casserole after 20-30 minutes and leave in the oven for another 30 minutes. Enjoy your chicken, and don't forget to save the bones and juices...

Score: 5 out of 5, but I must admit I'm a little prejudiced, so maybe you should try for yourself...
Tip: You can add all sorts of other vegetables (and herbs for that matter). usually we eat 2 times from one chicken, next day I make a salad or pasta with the 'spared' meat. After you finish, usually I put the bones and remaining fluids and veggies in a pan full of cold water, add some leek, carrots and celery and simmer for a few hours. Take out the solid parts with a strainer, season with salt & pepper and you'll have a very nice homemade broth.
Time: 75 minutes
Amount of work vs waiting: Low, about 20 minute work, and rest is oventime.
Degree of difficulty: Easy
Ideal for: Children's favorite, simple family dinner