What do you get when you have a neighborhood with working farms, plenty of shopping, and delicious restaurants? The suburbs! Yes, that is where I live but I don’t generally think of “farms” when I think of the burbs. I heard about a particular local farm that was a must to check out.
Over the holiday weekend I visited the hidden gem and was super excited. They had fresh produce, herbs, beautiful flowers, eggs, chickens, and honey. I had many questions since it was my first visit. The staff working at the farm were very welcoming and knowledgeable. I purchased delicious peaches and fresh blueberries as my produce choice. I had vegetables at home already so I did not need to get any. But, I was curious about the chickens. The farm has chickens and they sell freshly laid eggs as well as whole chickens. I decided to go for it as it’s typically more economical to purchase and roast the whole bird.
The produce tasted delicious! When it’s locally grown without pesticides and is picked fresh, the flavor is unbeatable. I added some berries to my cereal in the morning and I ended up grilling the peaches because it was the holiday weekend and of course the grill was fired up.
The eggs were excellent! The dozen include one “blue egg” in the package. The color of the eggshell is based on the color of the hens feathers, so it doesn’t taste any different or change the nutritional value. I made two eggs sunny side up. Again, such a great fresh taste.
And then the chicken. This is my first time roasting an entire chicken. But I am up for the opportunity 🙂
I luckily had fresh thyme from my herb garden. I used lemon, butter, fresh garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme to flavor the bird. 
I also cut up some veggies that I had at home that were ‘roasting vegetables’ to complement the chicken.
Place in the oven and roast for about 90 mins.
It was really easy and it’s a meal that you can feel healthy about. The flavor was subtle, like a hint of herbs. I love having extra chicken prepared in the fridge for the week. You can prepare a chicken sandwich on whole wheat bread with veggies, or use the meat as the main part of a meal along with roasted veggies and some grains or potato.
I’ll definitely go back to the local farm to take advantage of the fresh goods in my neighborhood.
I’d like to hear from you. Have you tried a local farm or perhaps farmers market with good experiences?
Dietitian Kimberly 