I’m not sure how we got here, but a lot of us would no more roast a whole chicken than barbecue a whole pig. I have some theories behind our collective fear of cooking an entire bird. Mostly, I think chefs and TV cooks have made too big a deal of the process – brining, trussing, stuffing and larding little birds beyond the point of weeknight do-ability. I also believe too many mouthfuls of dry turkey taint our belief we can successfully and easily roast a whole bird. But trust me: Cooking a chicken in the oven is one of the most effortless means to get dinner on the table. And when that chicken roasts on top of something like cauliflower, basting its white florets in a comforting warm poultry bath, you have an entire supper in a skillet. Then, I blend the cauliflower with milk and mount it with caramelized onions to create the comforting illusion of gravy with the healthful qualities of cauliflower. Yes, I know I’m sneaky. It’s one of my finest qualities.
Once-a-Week Roasted Chicken with Sweet Onion Cauliflower Puree
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (3-4 pounds)
- 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 3 teaspoons salt, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1-2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees, and if time allows, bring your chicken to room temperature.
- In a 12-inch skillet, cook the onions with ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons oil until caramelized. Once they are nicely browned and soft, scoop them out of the skillet and set aside.
- Slice the cauliflower into 2-inch “steaks” and lay them over the bottom of the same 12-inch skillet.
- Season the chicken inside and out with 1 ½ teaspoons salt and pepper. Stuff the halved lemon into its cavity and set the bird on top of the cauliflower. Slide the skillet onto the middle rack of your preheated oven and roast for 50 minutes. If your chicken is larger than 3 ½ pounds, roast it 5 minutes more per half-pound. You’re looking for an internal temperature of 165 degrees taken between the joint of the thigh and breast.
- Take the skillet out of the oven, set the chicken on a platter to rest and pluck the lemon halves from its cavity. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a blender and add the cauliflower, any collected juices from the skillet and 1 cup milk. Blend until totally smooth. Your puree should be the consistency of loose mashed potatoes, so you may need additional milk depending on how big your head of cauliflower was.
- Add the onions to the skillet, and over medium heat, stir them around loosening any bits of chicken stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the cauliflower, the remaining salt and butter. Heat through and serve alongside the chicken.
See more: Naked Pork Burgers with Swiss, Charred Red Onion, Mushrooms and Lemony Spinach
About the Chef: Vivian Howard created and stars in public television shows Somewhere South and A Chef’s Life, for which she has won Peabody, Emmy and James Beard awards. Vivian runs the restaurants Chef & the Farmer in Kinston; Benny’s Big Time in Wilmington; and Handy & Hot and Lenoir (opening spring 2021) in Charleston, S.C. She recently released her second cookbook, This Will Make It Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking.
