Delicious meal!

Last night, we ate really well!  I am trying out vegetarian and vegan recipes so that I increase my vegetable intake and cooking awareness.  If that makes any sense.  NO, WE ARE NOT VEGETARIANS OR VEGANS, but it is fascinating some of the recipes that I have stumbled on!  Here is one:

Rustic Roasted Vegetables

4 cups eggplant, cut into 2-inch cubes
4 cups zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced 1-inch thick
4 cups yellow summer squash, quartered lengthwise and sliced 1-inch thick
3 cups onions, cut from end to end into 1/2-inch-thick half-moons
2 cups green bell pepper, cut into rings
2 cups red or orange bell pepper, cut into rings
2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried
2 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 425.  In a large bowl, combine vegetables.  In a small prep bowl, combine herbs.  Toss mixed herbs over vegetables and mix well.  (Note:  this is a large amount of vegetables and exceeds 8 cups.  You may scale down as I did and leave out or substitute anything your family favors.  We had but did not include yellow squash or green peppers.  We used 1 orange and 1 yellow bell pepper and 3 sweet onions.)  Lightly oil a large roasting pan or cookie sheet with olive oil.  Transfer vegetable mixture to the pan, and spread into a single layer.
2.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Stir vegetables and spread into a single layer again.  Roast an additional 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are just tender.
3.  Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.  Enjoy as a side or add to pasta or rice dish.

We roasted a full chicken too!  It was really good!  We let it marinate all night.  I made sure to turn it over in the refrigerator when I woke up with Trent at night so it marinated evenly.  It was really good.  Here is the recipe I used for it:

Roasted Marinated Whole Chicken

AWESOME!  AWESOME!  AWESOME!

This came out fanastically good, full of flavor and moist. 

1 cup Dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup lemon juice (and reserve the rinds) (4-5 lemons)
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 whole chicken
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
a few sprigs of fresh thyme

1.  Whisk together the Dijon, oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, salt and pepper for the marinade. Marinate a whole cleaned chicken at least 4 hours.

2.  Put a lemon rind or two along with the rosemary and thyme sprigs in the cavity of the chicken.

3.  Roast at 375 until done, basting periodically, probably about 2 hours for a 4-5 lb chicken. Or roast at 325 for 3 hours. Pulling at the drumstick to see if it moves easily is one way to tell if it’s done. Or get yourself an instant meat thermometer to be sure.