Whole-Chicken Roasting and Other Post-Farmer’s Market Activities

I just got back from the farmer’s market a few minutes ago, where I picked up some golden beets, garlic, kale, green leaf lettuce, and some very robust-looking carrots (pictured). I also picked up a small, whole chicken to roast. It’s 2.75 pounds, which sounds like it would be just enough for two people for dinner.

It used to be that I would agree with you that it’s just the right size for some date-night cooking. But recently, I watched Mark Bittman’s Ted Talk, “What’s Wrong with What We Eat,” in which he talks about how nutritionally speaking, an adult only really needs to consume about a pound of meat (if at all) in a week. In the last few weeks (before watching the Ted Talk), I had already been cutting down on the amount of meals with meat that I’ve been eating, mostly just because it’s actually easier to cook fresh without having to worry about the storage of meat. (I’m notorious for purchasing chicken and then not having time to cook it and either freezing it or…just letting it go bad…which makes me feel guilty and terrible.) Bittman’s points simply solidified my desire to make a more concerted effort to only eat meat (by which I mean red, white, or even seafood) a few times a week.

So while I will be roasting this whole chicken as part of my Sunday activities, I’m planning on freezing half of it for next week.