Herb Buttered Chicken Stuffed With Kale

Who doesn't love a roast chicken? Even the vegans in my family were lured out of hiding with the smell of this chicken. There was one occasion when my vegan brother in law was less zealous, that he remarked that he liked the smell of what I was cooking. He was embarrassed to learn that it was this roast chicken that he was appreciating. I don't blame him though - the smell of roast chicken is fantastically alluring and every time we go grocery shopping I always think "Oooh let's have roast chicken tonight" when we walk past the rotisserie.

I had a whole lot of herbs leftover from cooking so I decided to roast chicken in a herb butter and stuff it with kale. Which is about all that my dish and Manu's salad has in common. Stuffing it with sauteed kale gives the bird additional flavour and the stuffing is also delicious served on the side. And if you don't make the gravy the whole dish is gluten free too!

I can't believe that it's already March, 2014. Isn't it funny how people change over the course of a few months. My brother in law Manu has changed from a vegetarian to a full blown vegan and then some and he now eats the same salad three times a day.

In this completely raw salad is a mix of carrot, cucumber, lemon, tomato, kale, kiwifruit, banana, apple, corn, pepitas, almonds, sunflower seeds, soaked chia seeds, nutritional yeast, avocado, red capsicum and spring onion. I'm sure that it is good for you but I worry that there might be things missing. But I'm no nutritionist, more a glutton.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you cook with herbs much? What are the herbs that you most commonly use?

Herb Buttered Chicken Stuffed With Kale

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

• 2-3 tablespoons oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bunch kale, washed and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 whole chicken
• small bunch of herbs finely chopped (I used rosemary, lemon thyme and sage)
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup hot chicken stock
• 1 cooking bag (optional)
• Salt and pepper to season

Step 1 - Heat a saucepan on medium heat and add one tablespoon of oil and fry the onion until translucent. Add the kale and garlic and saute for a few minutes adding more oil if needed, until the kale is cooked. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 2 - Preheat the oven to 200C/400F and get the oven bag ready - you can do this without an oven bag in which case you can line a deep baking tray with parchment to make cleaning easier. The oven bag does seem to inhibit the chicken browning so it's up to you.

Step 3 - Wash the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Stuff the chicken with some of the sauteed kale and reserve the rest to serve with the chicken. Mix the butter with the herbs and lemon zest and smear all over the chicken. Place in the oven bag with 1 tablespoon of flour (this is to prevent the bag from bursting). Close the bag and poke a few holes to let air escape. Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes until golden brown. If the chicken isn't as brown as you'd like, cut open the bag and roast until golden. Serve with the kale.

Step 4 - To make a gravy, reserve all of the cooking juices and flour and heat in a small saucepan. Add the chicken stock and simmer until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.