Spur Valley Ranch roasted chicken and Gidget's Garden salad

It was a very special day in our house on Saturday because we bought a Spur Valley Ranch chicken at the market. Gidget was so relieved that she didn't spend her entire morning in the trailer at the market for nothing.

So here's how I roasted our chicken;

Chicken Season

Preheat oven to 375

Make the spice blend that I call chicken season and then mix it with about 3 Tablespoons of olive oil.

Chicken Season
2 1/2 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Basil
2 teaspoons Rosemary

2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Mustard Powder
1 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon Thyme
1/2 teaspoon Celery Seed
1/2 teaspoon Parsley
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

I use large carrots to elevate our chicken on while it cooks

And then coat the chicken with the chicken season and olive oil

With a small spoon, gently loosen the skin from the flesh and spoon some of the spice mixture  under the skin on the breasts and thighs

Massage the spice mixture under the skin to coat the breast

Place the chicken breast side down and put it in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. This will keep the breast tender.

After 30 minutes turn the chicken breast side up and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees 

"Oh my goodness! This is so exciting."

We cooked this chicken about 40 minutes more, until the juices ran clear

Allow the chicken to rest before cutting, while you prepare the Gidget's Garden salad.

This salad included orange, red, and purple bell peppers, as well as some raw green beans, some small tomatoes, fresh basil and a cucumber. I did not use the jalapenos that are pictured. 

I normally do not peel or seed our cucumbers but I did with this one. It's a space master variety and the skin can be a little tough but the flesh is very tasty. 

Chop up your veggies

And toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, or the dressing of your choice

And then slice your chicken

And enjoy your dinner

This chicken was incredibly lean so I was able to use the carrots I used to elevate it on our dinner plate. Most of the time the carrots are way too greasy and mushy from the chicken but not so with our Spur Valley Ranch chicken, our carrots maintained much of their crunch so they were a nice addition on our plate.

Farmer D loved his meal

"Are you really just going to sit there and eat that in front of me?"

We let the cats have some fun with the bones for a few minutes after we ate, we do not let them actually eat the cooked bones, we just let them clean them. 

"Yum!"

"Wow! This is good!"

It is unanimous, we all love Spur Valley Ranch chicken! You can get yours and your Gidget's Garden salad fixins' on Saturday mornings at the Golden Hill Farmers Market. Spur Valley Ranch is also at several other markets around San Diego.