The Goddess of the Green Market

I have the first of our free-range, local, humanely treated chickens in the oven right now, 20 minutes from a delicious, homey meal of roast chicken, baked potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. The chicken was a minimalist affair, as I realized that with a recent lack of cooking, we had no viable garlic in the house. Or lemons. So I washed and dried the chicken; put it in a Dutch oven; sprinkled the insides with salt, pepper, and Herbs for Poultry (a nice Dean & Deluca blend); poured on a little melted butter; tied the legs together; sprinkled salt, pepper, and paprika on the outside; and sprinkled some Vidalia onions around the outside. I'm hoping that the less-processed bird will carry lots of flavor on its own. When it's all finished (about 90 minutes later), I'll add some broth to the drippings and make a nice little gravy. Not bad for a lazy Sunday.

Anyhoo, while I'm being tortured by the smell of roasted chicken, I took a gander around the web. It's been a bit since I've done a lot of food-writing perusing, and I had some catching up to do. I found a great New York Times video of Alice Waters at the Union Square Green Market in lower Manhattan, a place I would often frequent during lunch hours. Alice Waters is, I believe, directly responsible for so much of the local/sustainable food movement in America, and it's such a treat seeing how she approaches food at the market -- not with a list, but with the willingness to let inspiration strike. I wish I'd been at the table for the final product.