Crockpot Roasted Chicken

I honestly can’t believe I have never done this before. I really should use my crockpot more than I do but it kind of scares me a little. Anyway, I had heard that roasting a chicken is so easy in the crockpot so I tried it. I’m not sure that I will cook it any other way again. It’s so easy and tastes great! I made my own rub below but you could use whatever spices you wanted. One of the great things about doing this is after you are done roasting the chicken, you can make chicken bone broth that is very versatile and healthy. Bone broth is supposedly very good for its healing properties for your gut – therefore I’m making all that I can! Having extra broth around is nice anyway to give your dishes extra flavor.

 

1 whole chicken (about 3-4 lbs)

1 onion, quartered

1 tsp minced garlic

½ tsp chili powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried sage

½ tsp dried oregano

• In a small bowl, combine spices and mix together until well blended.
•  In a crockpot, put in chicken and stuff cavity with onion. Rub spice mixture all over chicken. I also put a little rub under the skin of the chicken breast. 
• Cook on low for about 6 hours (depending on your pot’s settings). 
• Remove chicken from crockpot and serve. I usually shred mine and then whatever leftovers we have we use during the week.

 

To make the broth: remove the bones from chicken and return to the juice in crockpot. Add about 5 cups of water to chicken juices (enough to fill the crockpot) and cook on low for about 8 hours. You can also add in celery or carrots to the broth mixture before cooking for extra flavor. My crockpot made about 3 quarts of broth. 

Roasted Fall Vegetables

I love root vegetables and squash in the fall. I really like it all year but of course it is much easier and cheaper to like it when the vegetables are in season. One day I will figure out how to grow my own. Anyway, I threw together a variety of vegetables here and they all came together nicely. It was super easy to roast them and the house smelled great after! This is another customizable dish so if you’d rather leave out an item or add in another, feel free!

5-6 small fingerling potatoes (baby red or white potatoes would work well also)

2 medium rutabagas, quartered
2 medium beets, quartered
2 medium turnips, quartered
6-8 brussell sprouts
1 large sweet potato, cut into 2” chunks
1 parsnip, cut into 2” chunks
½ cup sliced fennel
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped (about 1 tsp)
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp olive oil

• In a large casserole dish, combine clean, cut vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil and stir until vegetables are coated in oil.
• Add thyme, garlic, salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Stir again until vegetables are coated with seasonings.
• Pour water over vegetables. Bake at 350°F for about an hour or until vegetables are cooked through and have a nice little roasted crisp to them.