Does anyone else have a head time getting their kids to do their homework? I am in the midst of a nightly struggle with one of my girls and sometimes it makes me feel like pulling my hair out. Seriously. If you do, PLEASE let me know if you have suggestions!! I just took TV privileges away- but I don’t think that will do the trick…
Since I am having so much fun at the end of long days fighting for children to get their stuff done, I am even more appreciative for easy dinners than ever. Because there is nothing like multi-tasking in ten different directions while trying to get dinner on the table for the whole family. Oh, and I am looking for it to be healthy. And obviously delicious. 
And this roast chicken fits the bill. It just takes a few minutes to prepare (I buy the chicken already cut into pieces) and then you just pop it in the oven to roast. In that time you can do anything: check email, fold laundry, argue with a 6 year old, drink several glasses of wine….
And then you pop the chicken out of the oven and it’s all crispy and golden chicken skin with juicy tender meat. Not to mention the caramelized shallots and sweet peppery roast radishes.
But what I think is really cool is how the radishes are doing double duty. The actual radishes are roasted and the greens are turned into an amazingly flavorful pesto thickened with pepitas and made zesty with garlic and red wine vinegar. Enjoy!
- 1 Whole raw chicken cut into pieces (breasts, thighs, wings, drumsticks)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- kosher salt
- 12 shallots, peeled and trimmed
- 1 bunch radishes, washed and trimmed
- Radish Green Pesto:
- 1 clove garlic
- Greens from one bunch of radishes, rinsed and dried
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pepitas
- kosher salt
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Rub the chicken pieces with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle them with kosher salt.
- Roast the chicken for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove the pan from the oven and add the shallots and the radishes to the chicken and oil and return to the oven for 30 minutes.
- While the Chicken, shallots and radishes are roasting, make the pesto. In the jar of a blender add the garlic, radish greens, olive oil and vinegar as well as the pepitas. Puree until smooth. (if you need extra liquid you can add 1 tablespoon of water.)
- Serve the hot roasted chicken with the shallots, radishes and a drizzle of the radish green pesto on top.
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This is such a gorgeous and colorful plate, love it!
What a great way to use the radish greens!
Hi Heather,
Love your food!! Keep it coming!
In respect of your daughter and homework I can closely relate and am similarly sanctioning using tv and Internet with my two sons. However I have recently been reading Karen Pryor’s very interesting book ‘Don’t shoot the dog’ about changing behaviour through positive reinforcement. I got it relating to my puppy but I think it would work for human puppies too! Give it a read! Good luck. Tony
Thank you Tony!!
I’ve never thought of roasting radishes. We love roast chicken so this will be a definite “to try” dish.
With my daughter, I started in kindergarten. As soon as she got home, the very first thing she did was homework. In those days, the homework was so small, we could even bypass the snack first and just get the quick work sheet done. When homework got bigger, we had to do a little snack and quick break first, and then on to homework. We never saved it until later in the evening. If your kiddos get in the habit of getting homework done right away, it will hopefully just become second nature for them to get it out of the way early, and then they are free to move on to doing fun stuff. I can’t imagine they have too much homework at their age yet, but you will be glad later to have them with this mindset of getting it done first. 🙂
Such a colourful roast chicken dish!
What a beautiful dinner! Lovely Heather!
This so my kind of salad – refreshing and hearty!
Love all the flavors and colors of this dish!!
The colors of this dish are outrageously beautiful, like always!!
Thank you for this lovely recipe!
I made it tonight without shallots and added carrots and parsnips.
Since I must eat low FODMAP, I also omitted the garlic and vinegar and pepitas from the pesto and added a bunch of basil and a little salt (I could have substituted garlic-infused EVOO) and it was fresh and flavorful. The timing was absolutely perfect!
My girls loved the chicken and husband loved the radishes. Thank you!