Pomegranate Red Wine Roasted Chicken

At 35 weeks pregnant, cooking a from scratch meal is becoming more challenging.  It takes planning, thought and energy. That last one, energy, is where I struggle the most.  But there are times, like tonight, where I don't have much of a choice.  I asked Daniel to pull some meat out of the freezer last night for dinner tonight.  He chose a whole chicken and I was tasked with figuring out what to do with it.  My darling daughter strongly desired to have lemon pepper chicken, but I did not have the energy to go out to the store for lemons.  Instead, I remembered the two bottles of pomegranate red wine vinegar that I got for free at Bilo and had yet to use in any dish.  The vinegar became the base to this delicious chicken.

1 whole chicken
1/2 baseball sized onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of pomegranate red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I used the pre-chopped kind) or 2-3 cloves chopped
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary (optional)

1. Place large cast iron skillet in the oven.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Combine onion, vinegar, garlic, olive oil, soy sauce, sea salt and rosemary in a bowl and stir to coat.
3. Take the chicken and pat the skin dry.  Using your hand, create a pocket between the skin and breast meat.  Use your fingers to open the area in the legs as well. 
4. Once the cast iron skillet is hot, pull it out of the oven.  If your pan is well seasoned, place the bird in.  If not, coat the skillet with a bit of oil before placing the bird in it.
5. Take most of the vinegar/onion mixture and evenly distribute it under the skin making sure to tuck some in each leg.  Place a table spoon or so of the onion mixture in the cavity of the chicken.  Pour the remaining onions and juice mixture over the top of the chicken, using your hands to make sure the skin is covered.  Lightly salt the top of the chicken.
6. Place in the oven and bake until the juices run clear (around 30-40 minutes)
7. Enjoy!

If you have time, I would suggest putting all of this in a zip top bag and marinating for a day or so.  Even a half hour would allow the flavor to go through the meat more.  However, if you do not have the time, it doesn't matter.  This dish turned out great with no advanced marinating.  The vinegar ensures that the meat comes out tender and juice and the pomegranate flavoring pared with the onions is amazing!

I've started using my cast iron skillet for baking all my chicken dishes.  If you don't have a cast iron skillet then something must be wrong with you! Just kidding.  A standard dish will be just fine, but cooking times may need to be adjusted.  You can cook this at 350, but I go for the higher temps and have not had any dry chicken issues. 

Serve this with veggies or a salad. The juices can be reduced and used as a gravy for rice or mashed potatoes or poured over the meat.