Roasted Root Vegetables, Caramelized Cauliflower and Chicken in Green Sauce

A combination of maple roasted root vegetables and as many colours as you can get. Cauliflower with whole garlic cloves and a good sprinkle of sea-salt caramelized slowly at a low heat. Chicken in a green sauce made of fresh herbs or your leafy green preference and juice and the zest of citrus (lemon, lime, orange). Add spices like sumac for flavour and chipotle chilli powder to add heat and a bit of smokiness.

This dish takes a bit of planning and prepping it does take a chunk of time, especially, if you are doing this for the first time, but it is so worth it. Also, once you have done it a few times, you will develop your own system. I prefer to buy all of the ingredients a day before. I make the sauce the night before- so I can marinate the meat in it overnight. For the sake of efficiency I marinate in a container that is oven ready.

I pull the chicken out of the fridge 20 -30 minutes before, so it can reach room temperature before it goes into a preheated oven- this will help cook the meat more evenly. I learned this from being around chefs.

Once the oven is ready to roll- I start with the roasted root vegetables and then I put in the chicken the cauliflower is the last to go into the oven (it cooks faster than root vegetables and the chicken). I start hovering around the oven at an hour mark, tossing the vegetable occasionally and checking for the caramelizing process so as to not have the sugars burn and also to make sure that vegetables are not mushy.

I end up using my heated oven for multiple dishes (savings in terms of utilities) and I have food for couple of days (conserving time) and sometimes I do it so I can share it with others, so we can have a shared experience.

As chef Anna Thomas said, “We all eat, it would be a sad waste of opportunity to eat badly”.