Vickys Full Roast Chicken Dinner with Sides and Leftover Ideas, Gluten, Dairy, Egg & Soy-free Recipe

Steps

• Preheat oven to gas 6 / 200C / 400°F.
• Wash and pat dry the chicken. Push your fingers gently under the skin and over the back of the chicken to loosen, then push 2 tbsp of dairy-free spread under the skin on top of the flesh.
• Season with chicken seasoning and put in the oven. It needs to cook for 40 minutes per kilo.
• Wash the potatoes and peel if you like, then halve them or quarter if they're really big and place in a pan of salted cold water with the peeled and halved parsnips.
• Peel the swede and dice, then place in another pan of salted water.
• Prepare the sprouts by cutting off the hard stem, peeling off the outer leaves and cutting a shallow cross into the stem so it cooks. Again, place in a pan of salted water.
• Place the baby carrots in, you guessed it, a pan of salted water. If you want to roast them instead, put them in with the potatoes and follow the parsnip instructions.
• After a quarter of the roasting time has passed, take the chicken out and baste it in the butter and juices, then put back into the oven.
• The potatoes and parsnips need to boil for 4 minutes, then drain. Rough the potatoes up a little by tossing them in a colander. Sprinkle with some flour then coat both the potatoes and parsnips with a good spray of oil, season with salt, pepper and any other herbs/spices you prefer and roast for 15 minutes. Turn then roast a further 15 minutes. Turn once more then roast for another 10 minutes until golden and crispy. You should put these in the bottom of the oven 40 minutes before the chicken is ready. When the chicken comes out to rest, move them to the top shelf.
• Baste your chicken again at the halfway cooking time, then again at 3/4 cooking time, then get the rest of the veg and stuffing ready to cook.
• The swede needs to boil for 25 minutes. The sprouts and carrots just need 6 minutes..
• The stuffing is easy. Start it after the chicken comes out to rest at the same time you put the sprouts and carrots on to boil. In a microwavable bowl, put the oatmeal, onion, milk, a good glug of oil and a tsp each salt & pepper. Mix well then cover and vent. Cook on high for 6 minutes stirring halfway through..
• The chicken is ready! Take it off the roasting tray, cover and set aside. Move the roasting veg up in the oven. Drain the swede and mash it with a good amount of sunflower spread and salt & pepper / seasoning to taste. I like to add a little nutmeg. Drain the sprouts and melt over a knob of sunflower spread. You can stir in some chopped cooked bacon, chopped chestnuts or flaked almond to dress them if you like. Drain the carrot and glaze with syrup or honey..
• Spoon the excess fat from the juices left on the chicken roasting tray. Stir in a heaped dessertspoon of flour and bring to boil on the hob, scraping the solids from the bottom of the tray. Strain through a sieve..
• Take the roasted veg out of the oven and plate everything up! Enjoy.
• Check out the leftovers lol! An idea to use them :.
• Make a roux from equal amounts of sunflower spread and flour. Add rice, oat or almond milk to make a basic white sauce. Season with salt & pepper and chop up some chunks of chicken, carrot and sprouts and mix through. Mix some mashed swede in too. Even throw some dairy-free cheese in!.
• Make a pie! Here I used 3 squares of filo pastry (see my gluten-free recipe on my profile), each square buttered with another square placed on top but the opposite way round, then a final square on top of that to make a 6 pointed star shape.
• Shred and mix together the leftovers and place in the centre of the pastry, then fold in the corners so the filling is encased.
• For filo, shortcrust or puff, bake at gas 4 / 180C / 350°F for 25-30 mins or until golden.
• Make soup! Use any leftover chicken in my Roast Chicken & Rice soup https://cookpad.com/us/recipes/349824-vickys-roast-chicken-rice-soup-gluten-dairy-egg-soy-nut-free.