Vayeshev Recipe – Chicken with Many-Colored Vegetables

Judy Jackson

There are two main parts to this dish: a roasted chicken, cut into portions before cooking, and an array of brightly coloured Mediterranean vegetables. It’s very healthy because there is hardly any fat. Another advantage is that it can be prepared ahead and reheated just before serving.
The recipe is written in a very simple way as it is similar to ones that appear in my book for children Lookit Cookit.

For 4 people you need: a whole roaster chicken, cut into 8; 1 of each red, yellow and orange pepper;
1 aubergine; 2 courgettes; 1 red onion, 2 white onions, 2 large baking potatoes; salt, pepper, paprika, olive oil.

For the cooking: a roasting dish and 1-2 trays covered with baking parchment.
First prepare the vegetables. Cut the aubergine into large cubes (there’s no need to remove the peel). Cut the courgettes (also unpeeled) into thick slices. Peel and slice the onions and cut the peppers into quarters, removing the white veins and seeds inside.

Put a little oil in a frying pan and sauté the aubergine pieces on high heat for about five minutes. Turn the heat down a bit and continue cooking, turning them over, till they are brown.
You may need to add a little more oil. Put the cooked aubergine on a plate and then sauté the courgette slices in a little more oil, turning and browning them in the same way.

Preheat the oven to 190C (fan) or 200C/400F. (preferably using top heat as this helps to brown everything.)

Put a sheet of baking paper on a shallow tray and pour on a few tablespoons of olive oil. Arrange in a single layer the thick rounds of red onion and the pieces of pepper. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables in the hot oven for about 20 minutes and then turn them over gently to brown the other side. Continue roasting for another 10-15 minutes. Set these vegetables aside with the fried ones.

Dry the chicken pieces well with paper towels. Put a little olive oil (2-4 tablespoons) in a roasting dish and arrange the chicken portions in a single layer with the sliced white onions around them. (This is to stop the juices drying and burning the sides of the dish).

Sprinkle the onions with a little salt and generously shake paprika over the chicken pieces (about 1 tablespoon). Cook in the hot oven for 35 minutes.

Remove the dish from the oven and pour the juices into a small pot or jug (you can use this for gravy later). Turn the chicken over and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes until both sides are browned and the chicken is cooked.

When the chicken has been cooking for about 20 minutes you can start to roast the potato slices. Cut the unpeeled potatoes into thin slices. Put the slices on a plate and microwave for about 4 minutes on full power. Then separate them and arrange them on a sheet of baking paper and with no oil at all, roast in the hot oven for about 35 minutes, turning them over once to brown both sides. Sprinkle with salt.

To serve: Put the roasted chicken pieces on a large platter, surrounded by the roasted vegetables. Heat in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes (or a bit longer if you have prepared everything in advance and are reheating it from cold).

Variation: if you don’t want to do the potatoes you can serve the dish with plain white rice.

Judy Jackson has written 7 cookbooks and 2 novels. Her book The Camel Trail won the award for Best Food Literature Book in the UK in 2007. Her illustrated children’s book Lookit Cookit was also nominated and is available in hard copy or for the iPad. She writes a daily blog on food called The Armchair Kitchen. It goes out to over 25,000 followers worldwide. You can find it at www.lookitcookit.tumblr.com. Judy is married to computer scientist Michael Jackson and they have four sons, four American daughters-in-law and twelve grandchildren.