Roasted Cornish Hens

For all those readers just interested in the food and not the food facts/story, skip down to the first picture and it will take you to the recipe! For those ready for the full crazy adventure....let's do this.

My husband received some exciting news- he has been selected for Career Designation on the first look! This basically means the Marine Corps wants him to stay in and are asking him to sign another contract to serve longer. So proud of him!!! This recipe can be easily done with a larger roaster chicken, but I decided to make it a little extra special and fancy to celebrate the news! I found these awesome looking Cornish Hens at the grocery store and thought it was just the thing! I mean what guy doesn't want to say they ate an ENTIRE chicken by themselves? Haha! They are just a small little chicken, which makes it fun to eat for dinner. (If you decide to use a bigger chicken, make sure you cook it longer so that it cooks completely through.) Now let's talk about the ingredients making this celebratory dinner extra nutritious today:

*You will start to notice a trend with our favorite ingredients making a repeat appearance. I will put the newest ingredients on top, followed by a recap of the remaining ingredients to make it easier to scroll over if you still remember their nutritional awesomeness!

-Brown and White Rice mix. Were you expecting to hear nutritional benefits about rice?! Well surprisingly there are some! Rice contains antioxidants, vitamin B, potassium, iron, fiber, vitamin E, and may help to reduce cholesterol. Be sure to mix brown rice in with your white rice to get all of these benefits though! Rice is also heart-healthy, may help to prevent cancer, and may even help in fighting Alzheimer's. It is one of the least allergenic grains to consume too!

-Green Beans. Green beans contain fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B, folic acid, iron, manganese, potassium, calcium, and antioxidants. They can also help reduce heart disease, may be helpful in preventing cancer, aid in managing diabetes, boost the immune system, and are eye and bone healthy. (information obtained from organicfacts.net)

Recap time!

-Garlic. Garlic helps with digestion, aids in lowering cholesterol, regulates blood sugar levels, lowers blood pressure, aids in preventing cancer, contains antioxidants, and can help fight illness or colds. (information obtained from organicfacts.net)

-Onions. Onions contain powerful antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C, folate, are natural chelators (get rid of heavy metals), may decrease the risk of osteoporosis, and may aid in fighting and preventing cancer. They are also heart health by decreasing the tendency of blood clots to form as well as lowering cholesterol levels.

-Carrots. Carrots contain beta-carotene, vitamin A, fiber, manganese, potassium, vitamin B, vitamin C, may reduce heart disease, aid in fighting cancer, help with blood sugar control, and are good for your eyes.

-Celery. Celery contains vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, helps to lower cholesterol, aids in preventing cancer, is antibacterial, and is an anti-inflammatory.

(information above obtained from the book 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life by David Grotto R.D. unless otherwise stated)

Mmmm time to get to work!

Ingredients:
-2 Cornish Hens
-2 Sweet Onions
-2 Heads of Garlic (although feel free to just mince a couple of cloves instead for less garlic-ness)
-2 Carrots
-3 Stalks of Celery
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
-Seasoning - I used garlic salt and the savory seasoning from the Feb blog
-1 Cup of Rice - 1/2 Cup of Brown Rice and 1/2 Cup of White Rice
-Green Beans as a side dish (amount is up to you! however much you normally eat!)
Roasting Pan
Sauce Pan or Rice Cooker
Cook time: Approximately 1 Hour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees while you prepare your chickens.

Remove your chickens from the wrapping and pat dry with a paper towel.

Next drizzle Extra-Virgin Olive Oil over the chicken and rub into the meat until completely covered. 

Vegetable time! Chop your onions into medium slices, and then medium dice both the celery and carrots.

Drizzle more olive oil over your vegetables and toss until coated. 

Once coated, you can move these to the bottom of your roaster pan with your Cornish Hens. 

Time to add the garlic! If you aren't a huge garlic fan, you can just mince a clove or two and throw that in with your vegetables. If you are a garlic-maniac like we are- 

Peel off most of the papery skin surrounding the head of garlic, leaving only the last thin layer. Then carefully slice off the top of the garlic to expose the cloves underneath. Cover with olive oil and place into the roaster pan to cook with the chicken. 

The garlic will cook just fine this way, but those bigger cloves might not be as soft and buttery as they could be by being in the pan and removed from some of the oven heat. If you want to be sure they are extra soft and spreadable for your chicken and rice- place the clove into a piece of aluminum foil, pull up the ends of the foil to gather them at the top and pinch closed. Place this directly on the rack of the oven for 45 min to an hour while the chicken cooks. 

Heavily season your chicken and vegetables. I used the Savory Seasoning from the Feb blog along with a little garlic salt. It ended up tasting delicious on this!

Place into the oven to cook for an hour. When you have about 30 minutes left, make your brown and white rice blend so that it will be hot and ready when your chicken comes out. Make your rice according to package instructions on your stovetop or in a rice cooker. I have come to loooove using a rice cooker and it makes perfectly fluffy-sticky rice every time!!! 

Chicken is all done! And it is hot hot hot! I couldn't really avoid the steam in the picture haha!

After pulling your chicken out, prepare your green beans and grab some plates because it is dinner time!

We found some delicious green beans that were still small and slender. SOOO good that way! Since ours were packaged in a steam-able bag, they only took about 6 minutes to steam/cook in the microwave. Drain the water and toss with a little caramelized butter and seasoning....oh yeahhhh.

Time to eat!!!! This is my husband's plate- 

His grin said it all! If anyone is wondering, yes, he ate the WHOLE thing! 

I hope you enjoy the recipe! Until next time!

Let's get to Cookin'

~Abigail