Roasted Chicken with Fried Chickpeas

Tomorrow is my last law school final.  After that, it's just graduation.  So tonight, since I needed a break from studying anyway, I made a chicken.  I think there are few things more satisfying and so easy to make as a roast chicken.  Season it, throw it in the oven, take it out when it's done.  Yum.

Continuing our quest to use things up, I was trying to come up with side dishes to serve with the chicken.  I'm out of rice, pasta, and don't have any potatoes.  So a starch was hard to come up with.  I didn't want to put the time into making my own noodles tonight so I made chickpeas instead.  These were AWESOME.  Slightly sweet and spicy.  They were really quite easy to make.  Since I used dried chickpeas I had them working most of the day between soaking them and then simmering them.  But the actual time cooking them wasn't bad.  If you don't want to do all that, you can substitute canned chickpeas instead.  I always use dried beans now because they're so cheap.

I served this with some frozen green beans that I just microwaved and topped with a little margarine.  (All that's left in our freezer now is a small amount of peas and ice cubes... it looks so sad!  But all will be fixed after we move in a week and a half...)

The herbs you put on/in the chicken can be adjusted to your taste.  I often like to put some garlic or lemon in the chicken but since I didn't have any, I just left it with the herbs.  The water in the bottom of the pan helped to keep the chicken moist and it prevented the fat from burning when it rendered from the chicken.  I didn't use it to make a sauce but you could strain and separate the juices to make a gravy.

I have a lot of leftover chicken from this meal (and some of the chickpeas).  Jeremy ate a whole breast and I had half of one.  That leaves most of the dark meat and some of the white meat for another meal.  I'm already planning on making a pizza tomorrow with some of the chicken. Yum!

Overall a great meal.  Wish me luck on my last final tomorrow!

The whole chicken -- so crispy and delicious!

Recipe:
Chicken:
1 5-6 lb. whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary (crush the leaves in your fingers before sprinkling on the chicken)
2 tbs. canola oil
approx. 2 c. water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Rub the oil onto the chicken.  Sprinkle the seasonings over/in the chicken.
3. Place the chicken on a rack over a roasting pan.  Add water to the bottom of the pan.  (You want enough water to cover the bottom of the pan without touching the chicken.
4. Roast for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until a thermometer inserted in the thigh (but not touching bone) registers at least 165 degrees (A lot of cookbooks (and my digital thermometer) recommend 180 degrees... but the USDA says 165 is sufficient...).  (I usually go a few degrees extra -- to 170 or 175... just to be safe.)
5. Allow the bird to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.  Enjoy!

Chickpeas:
8 oz. dried chickpeas (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 tbs. minced cilantro
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flake
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbs. vegetable oil

1. If using the dried chickpeas, soak the chickpeas for 6 hours or overnight.  Drain and rinse.  Place in a medium sauce pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 45-60 minutes until tender.  Drain and set aside to dry a bit.
2. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add oil and crushed red pepper flake.  Cook for 1 minute until the oil takes on a reddish hue.  Add onions and garlic.  Saute for 2-3 minutes until slightly tender.  Add chickpeas, season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas are golden brown, 15-20 minutes.  (Adjust heat as necessary to avoid burning it.)  The onions will caramelize slightly.
3. Add the chopped cilantro and stir to combine.  Cook for 1 more minute.
4. Serve and enjoy.