Roasted Chicken with Orzo

Warm Sweet Potato and Spinach Salad

The chicken and sweet potatoes cook in the slow cooker. All that is needed at the end of the day is to cook the orzo pasta and put the spinach salad together.

Ingredients:
1 roasting chicken
1 lemon, sliced
1 onion sliced
1 sprig of rosemary
1 tablespoon of butter for the chicken
1 cup of orzo pasta
1 tablespoon of butter for the pasta
2 large sweet potatoes
2 cups of spinach, torn into pieces
¼ cup of apple juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar

In the morning:
Wash and dry the roasting chicken
Rub the cavity with salt. Place the lemon, onion, and rosemary inside the cavity.
Rub the outside of the chicken with butter.
Lay metal cookie cutters on the bottom of the slow cooker. This will make a platform to keep the chicken and potatoes out of the juices as they cook.
Place the chicken in the slow cooker.
Wash the sweet potatoes and lay the them around the chicken.
Bake on low for 6-8 hours.

In the afternoon:
Cook the orzo according to package directions.
Heat the apple juice and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until it begins to thicken.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into bite sized chunks.
Toss the sweet potatoes with the spinach. Pour the apple juice mixture over the top and stir to coat. The spinach will be slightly wilted from the heat of the sauce.
Take the chicken out of the slow cooker and place on a serving platter on a bed of orzo pasta.

Tip: Save the drippings from the bottom of the crock pot. Strain it and freeze in ½ cup containers. You will have homemade chicken stock on hand in premeasured ½ cup amounts for any recipe that calls for chicken stock.