With a little planning ahead, a relatively small number of organic ingredients can be transformed into several days worth of satisfying meals without breaking the bank.  Using whole ingredients, i.e. whole chicken verses chicken breast, allows you to get more for your money.  You end up spending a greater percentage of your budget on the quality of the ingredients, rather than paying for the cost of the processing.

You will likely already have salt (I prefer fine sea salt), black pepper, olive oil, unsalted butter, pasta, and rice on hand, but if not, add them to your shopping list.  Assorted dried herbs and spices are useful for creating a variety of flavor, but are not essential.

Shopping List for 1-2 people:

1 whole chicken 3-4 lbs
Celery
Carrots
Garlic
2 small/medium onions
Lentils (any color)
Fresh Parsley
Green Vegetable of your Choice – Broccoli, Peas, Green Beans, Asparagus, Chard, etc…

Menu:

Roast Chicken served with Glazed Carrots and Rice
Grandma’s Lentils
Chicken and Green Veggie Pasta with Garlic Herb Sauce

Part 1. Roast Your Chicken
One of the most valuable things I learned from Alice Waters’ cookbook The Art of Simple Food, has been the correct way to roast a chicken.  My mother often cooked chicken on the bone while I was growing up, but due to a 5-year stint as a vegetarian I managed to leave the house without acquiring that skill.  When I finally started eating chicken again, I spent years feeding my husband bland, overcooked, boneless, skinless chicken breasts and tenders. I was far too intimidated to ever attempt using a whole bird.  The closest I came to cooking a bird was Thanksgiving 2007 when I attempted to roast a “bone in” turkey breast.  As usual it was overcooked but edible.  Determined to cook a more successful Thanksgiving dinner, I have spent the last year following the advice of Alice Waters, and getting to know the quirks of my oven.  Armed with my trusty meat thermometer, I am now consistently roasting moist, flavorful whole chickens.

Part 2. Make Your Broth
One advantage of cooking a whole chicken is that it can feed you for more than one meal.  I usually eat the dark meat on the first day, and reserve the breasts for another meal.  After I cut the meat off the bones, I use the carcass to make chicken broth.  Again my recipe inspiration is drawn from The Art of Simple Food.  Once the broth has finished cooking I let it cool to room temperature, then freeze it in ice cube trays to be used in various recipes at a later date.  Each cube is about 1 ounce so I can easily defrost whatever amount is called for.  I stopped buying chicken broth at the store once I started looking closely at the labels.  More often than not, the packaged broths contained some form of added sugar, which made no sense to me.  I wouldn’t add sugar to a chicken soup, so why would I want it in my organic chicken broth!  With the presence of undesirable ingredients, and my newly found ability to make my own, I can no longer justify the expense of pre-made broth.

Part 3. The Recipes

Roast Chicken (inspired by The Art of Simple Food)

Chicken Broth (inspired by The Art of Simple Food)

Grandma’s Lentils (inspired by my Grandmother, Dorothy M. Barry)

Chicken and Green Veggie Pasta with Garlic Herb Sauce (inspired by The Art of Simple Food)