Easy-Breezy Roast Chicken with Brown Rice
The recipe truly deserves the adjective "Easy."
Nearly everyone has a roasted chicken recipe. In fact, roasting a chicken in the oven is in itself so easy, you almost don't need a recipe. Any number of rubs, spices and seasonings and stuffing can make a roasted chicken flavorful. About the only specific science to engage in chicken roasting is to neither over nor under-cook it. But this recipe has the added bonus of giving you a savory rice accompaniment to this deliciously succulent, roasted bird. Perhaps the greater added benefit is that everything is prepared together, comes out of the oven at the same time and there is nothing to clean up after (save for the plates and cutlery). If followed precisely as written, you won't need to worry about under or over-cooking the bird, either. This recipe truly deserves the adjective "Easy."
My Number One Fan gets credit for sourcing this recipe from a website called South Your Mouth. We modified it, however, in both seasoning and cooking temperature, and as always, we go for using stock as opposed to broth. The South Your Mouth website had the usual indemnification verbiage to insert a thermometer into the the thigh of the bird and ensure a temperature of at least 175 degrees. Do that if you're overly cautious. We didn't. The chicken was perfectly done.
We also didn’t use South Your Mouth’s spice rub preferring to use a Kitchen Tapestry recipe for Chicken Scratch Spice Rub, which I’ve included below for convenience.
The Secret: An Oven Roasting Bag
You will need an oven roasting bag for this dish, like Reynolds. Read the instructions carefully, however. Oven bags as a rule are not intended for ovens hotter than 400°F. If you're sure your oven has been correctly calibrated, the roasting temperature for this dish is 395°F. If you're unsure, or know your oven tends to run on the hot side, you'll be fine at 375°F, but add 15 minutes to the cooking time. The cooking bag has the added benefit of making clean-up a snap. The original recipe also called for white rice, but we used brown rice because it's healthier for you and has a delicious, nuttier flavor. Use white rice if prefer or, if you would rather make the chicken without rice, omit it and the celery, and use just 1/4 cup of chicken stock.
Easy Breezy Roast Chicken with Brown Rice
Ingredients
- 4-5 lb whole roasting chicken
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- handful Kitchen Tapestry recipe for Chicken Scratch Spice Rub
- 2 cups brown rice
- 1/2 cup celery, finely minced
- 4 cups chicken stock (like Swanson's or Kitchen Basics)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 395°F.
- Rinse the chicken under cold running water and pat dry.
- Cover the chicken all over,with the olive oil. Sprinkle and rub in the spice rub all over into the bird, starting with the underside of the bird and ending with the front breast-side.
- Place the oven bag in baking dish large enough so the edges of the bag do not hang over the edge of the dish.
- Add the rice, celery and chicken stock to the bag, then put the chicken on top.
- Close the bag as directed on the package and cut three 1/2 inch slits in the top of the bag.
- Place the bird into the oven and cook for 1-1/2 hours.
- After the time has elapsed, pull the dish from the oven and allow to rest 20 minutes. Then, cut open the bag and vent for 5 minutes.
- Remove the bird to a cutting board and cut into pieces, or simply cut into two halves if you're dining for two. Serve the chicken with the rice on the side.
Chicken Scratch Spice Rub
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp seasoned salt (like, Lawry's or Morton's Season-All)
- 1 tbsp poultry seasoning
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp powered mustard
- 1 tsp ground sage
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients in a mixing bowl with a wire whisk.
- Turn out the seasonings into an air-tight container.
- Keep with other seasonings in a cool, dark place.
