My first post of the new year is a study in duality. Why? Because that’s what the new year is all about right? We desperately embrace new habits, convincing ourselves that this year will be different. In the mirror, we pinch our stomaches and remind ourselves that asses don’t tighten all by themselves. We turn one eye away from the xBox in an effort to power through a tome. We make that eighth trip to the office water cooler despite the fact it’ll be the eleventh to the bathroom. But every time we tell ourselves we’ll put down the crack pipe and schedule that Nia class -well, there’s a reason they say old habits die hard.

Me following through with any resolutions is about as successful as putting a pie where the battery should be under the hood.  My co-workers laugh at me because I’ve been slogging through a pathetic saga of having salad every day for lunch. It’s now a running joke. What are you doing for lunch today, Jen? Oh, let me guess. You brought SALAD? The mocking gained momentum when I made the mistake of tweeting about my broccoli head lunch. Ok, I’m trying to be healthy. But what you don’t know is that, I just followed healthy with four slices of pizza.  I suck at discipline and I’m not really sure what will power actually means. So here’s to 2011. May our half-assed attempts at bettering ourselves at least be somewhat enjoyable.

Half a Chicken Caesar Salad

For the Chicken

• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 lemon
• 1 tsp of peppercorns
• salt
• 3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• paprika
• olive oil
• 1 whole chicken

This is actually a very easy recipe. You can easily eliminate the salad portion of this and substitute some mash potatoes which is what I’ll probably be doing the next time I make this.  Preheat the oven to 170C, and then grate all the cloves of garlic with a microplane.

Zest the lemon.

Crush the peppercorns.

Remove the leaves from the stems of the rosemary and finely chop.

Mix the garlic, zest, rosemary, pepper and salt together with a little olive oil.  This will be your seasoning paste for the chicken.

Cutting the chicken in half is easiest with kitchen shears. I haven’t tried with a regular knife and I shudder to think at what would happen if I did. I also learned that shooting pictures with one hand while the other one “demos” is really hard.

First cut directly down the middle of the breast bone.

Then cut down the left and right side of the backbone.

Your halved chicken should look something like this. Discard the backbone or save to make stock.

Next losen the skin with your fingers and place a bit of the seasoning paste underneath. You can distribute the seasoning evenly by pressing on the outside of the skin.

Place the chicken halves on a wrack, drizzle with olive oil and season the outside of the skin with pepper, salt, and paprika.

Roast the chicken for 30-45 minutes or until the skin is golden brown.

For the Caesar salad

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 anchovies
• 1 clove of grated garlic
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• a teeny bit of mustard
• fresh black pepper
• salt
• olive oil
• water
• Parmesan cheese
• Romaine lettuce

Finely chop the anchovies.

In a food processor, combine the yolks with the anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, mustard, and pepper.

Start the processor and add a steady stream of olive oil. The mix will thicken. The more olive oil you add the thicker it will get. If you go too far and it ends up looking more like mayonnaise, add a bit of water to find the consistency you like. Season to taste with salt.

Chop some romaine lettuce.

Grate some Parmesan cheese.

Toss the leaves once with the dressing to evenly coat. Then toss again with the grated Parmesan.

Remove the chicken when the skin is crispy and golden brown. Serve on top of the salad.