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HERBES DE PROVENCE ROASTED CHICKEN WITH LEMON AND GARLIC & FENNEL-STEWED LENTILS

Dave's Dinners: A Fresh Approach To Home-Cooked Meals
by Dave Lieberman
This is an homage to peasant, provencal cooking. Luckily herbes de Provence, the classic mixture of herbs indigenous to southern France, can be found right on your supermarket shelf. The most distinctive part of the mixture is the inclusion of lavender buds, which add a beautiful perfume to the roasted chicken. The fennel lentils are a perfect complement. Make sure you get the small green lentils, though, because the larger varieties cook slightly differently.
Serves 6

Ingredients

For the Chicken
• 1 (3- to 4-pound) roasting chicken
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup herbes de Provence
• 1 lemon, cut into eighths
• 8 garlic cloves, smashed

For the Lentils
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 pound carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 small fennel bulb (1/2 to 3/4 pound), bottom and core removed and thinly sliced
• 3 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1½ cups small green lentils
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Scatter the herbs over the chicken and use your hands to rub them all over.

Stuff most of the lemon and garlic into the cavity of the chicken. Scatter the rest over the top and press into the chicken so they don't fall off during the cooking process.

Roast 1 hour 10 minutes for a 3-pound chicken, 1 hour 20 minutes for a 4-pound chicken.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and carrots until the onion starts to soften. Add the fennel and saute until fennel starts to soften.

Add the stock and bay leaves and bring to a vigorous simmer.

Add the lentils, bring back to a simmer, cover, and cook 30 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.