1. One free–range chicken, or several boneless chicken breasts. The chicken should ideally brine for one to two days. See Let’s Talk Salt post for instructions: https://open-heart-open-hands.com/2014/03/05/lets-talk-salt/
2. 1–2 lemons
3. olive oil
4. curry powder
5. tarragon (fresh is best, but dried is okay)
6. tamari/or salt
7. several potatoes, sliced in half
8. 1–2 onions sliced into four quarters each
9. yams cut into thick rounds or quarters
10. whole Shitake mushrooms
11. fennel bulb cut into wedges
12. carrots or other veggies can be substituted or included, all vegetables should be chopped into large sections, not fine little pieces.

Prepare/Brine Chicken and then wash surfaces with bleach water or very hot water and soap, afterwards that came in contact with the chicken. Preheat the oven to 375°–400 for a whole chicken.

In a large casserole dish or cast iron pan, place the potatoes and onions (or other veggies) in the bottom of the pan underneath and around the chicken. Put one of the onion quarters inside the chicken cavity. Squeeze lemon juice over the chicken and place one of the lemon halves inside the cavity, then sprinkle with olive oil and tamari or salt (if you didn’t brine the chicken, no salt is necessary if you brined your chicken in saltwater), curry powder and tarragon. Do a healthy amount of each and spread the herbs around the chicken to insure coverage of the whole bird. Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes–1.5 hours depending on the size of your chicken. Brush the chicken with the juices that escape three or four times during the cooking.  Serve with rice and blanched veggies and a salad.

For breasts, don’t put any vegetables under the chicken, just cook the chicken breasts. Put the herbs/lemon, oil and tamari on both sides of the breasts . It’s better to marinate breasts if you can in this sauce for at least an hour or many hours, but you can make it without marinating as well. You should have some extra sauces leftover in the pan from this once cooked, just place in the oven, whether you’ve marinated or not. Cook in the oven at 375° for 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. You should turn the breasts once about halfway through cooking time. Do not cover.