If you looked on the sides of the bottles of most brands of salad dressing, you’d be shocked at what you found. Considering that idea behind dressings is either a vinegar and an oil with flavorings or a mayonnaise and flavorings, I am often perplexed at when and why dressing manufacturers decided that we needed refined sugars, hydrogenated oils, preservatives and other unnecessary additives to what would otherwise be a simple product. Unfortunately, that’s how large batch, mass marketed food products are made these days.
On the other hand, our favorite brand of dressings and marinades approaches their products differently. Tessemae’s, which is fairly local to us, based in Annapolis, simplifies their recipes back to their essentials and uses quality ingredients in their recipes. For example, our favorite flavor is Honey Mustard and it’s only ingredients are mustard (mustard seeds, water, vinegar, salt and spices) and organic honey. The result? Not only a healthy sauce, but a delicious one, too. Bonus, it’s not overly-sweet but rather is flavored with just a hint of honey that still focuses on and enhances an amazing mustard flavor. [Insider scoop knowledge bomb: Tessemae’s JUST launched a new Dijon and Yellow Mustard line and you can get all THREE mustards for a discount in this Oktoberfest Pack!]
We love this stuff so much that one time at Paleo f(X), Stacy bribed their sales team to let her take one of their quart sample bottles home with her. No, seriously. We legitimately use it as a salad dressing or dipping sauce on all the things, but this week we’re sharing something special. When Stacy was eating roast chicken with honey mustard and a side of cabbage, she insisted the flavors needed to be melded into one recipe. And she was right! We marinated a whole chicken in Tessemae’s honey mustard and then roasted it over cabbage, onions, and freshly picked apples for a one pot meal you do NOT want to miss!
While we love our fancy Dutch oven and cast iron (which is how we made The Bacon Chicken from Beyond Bacon that inspired this dish), we are using a more unique set-up with basic kitchen essentials in the hopes it makes the dish more accessible to those that don’t have special pans. All this requires? A cooling rack and a baking sheet with a lip.
The added bonus of this method is that it allows the under side of the chicken skin to crisp up as much as the top. Because, while some people might not like brown chicken skin – we’re here to tell you, that’s where all the flavor is! With this recipe, the browned skin means the natural sugars in the scant amount of honey used in the honey mustard are caramelizing and adding a TON of flavor to the chicken skin. But the even better bonus? The juices from that flavorful, juicy chicken will be dripping into the veggie side dish cooking in the same pan! One pot and a whole meal, too! How awesome is that?
So what is the result here? Well, the honey mustard marinade adds a tangy sweetness to the party while the veggies are enhanced by the chicken juices and roasted to perfection. The vegetables are the real winner here, Stacy had to arm wrestle the rest of the family in order to claim the leftovers. This was our favorite dinner we’ve had for a while and while it’s a simple, one-pot, easy meal it’s so flavorful that it’s an impressive dish to serve to guests as well.
Ingredients
- 5 lbs whole chicken
- 3/4 C Tessemae's Honey Mustard
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 head of cabbage, sliced thin
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Thoroughly dry the skin and cavity of the chicken.
- In a bowl large enough for the chicken, whisk together marinade ingredients.
- Place chicken in marinade bowl and coat inside and out with the marinade. Cover the bowl and allow to marinate in the fridge for a recommended 8 hours. I mean, a rushed 45 minutes would be fine but not nearly as good as overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Toss cabbage, apples, and onion with oil, salt and pepper in a large Dutch oven or a baking sheet. Place chicken on top, using a rack if possible.
- Roast for one hour at 400 degrees until chicken is cooked through.
Notes
This recipe would work with any type or size of chicken, including pieces or a whole chicken that is smaller or larger. The standard for cooking chicken is to cook until juices run clear, or 165 degrees Fahrenheit if you have a meat thermometer.
Note, if you like this dish, try our award winning The Bacon Chicken too!
