Maple Roasted Root Vegetables
Caramelized Cauliflower and Whole Garlic Cloves
Slow Roasted Chicken Thighs 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”.

Root Vegetables
Chop the root vegetables in chunks (proportions equivalent to chopped sweet potato) and add olive oil and maple syrup. Place it in the oven at 375 degrees and toss occasionally. Test to see if vegetables and cooked through and maple syrup is caramelized. I usually try to take a taste before pulling it out of the oven to see if the vegetables are not too mushy.

Cauliflower
Cut up cauliflower into florets and dice the sweet onion into big pieces, peel the garlic cloves and add to a pan. Add olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper. Roast it in the oven at 375 degrees until it is caramelized (slightly browned) and not too mushy.

Chicken with Green Sauce
I use my blender to make sauces. This one is made of watercress, coriander, garlic, lemon and limejuice. Season it with pepper, sumac and chipotle chilli powder. I prefer to marinate the chicken thighs in the sauce overnight. I prefer to add salt just prior to cooking. Take it out of the fridge half an hour before putting it in a preheated oven at 375 degrees. Cook it covered for half and hour and then turn down the heat slightly, remove the covering and cook the chicken until it is beautifully browned and the sauce is to my liking in both flavour and texture.