I kind of have a crush on five-spice blends right now.  The chili garlic sauce can be found in the Asian section of the grocery store, right next to the Sriracha.  And once this zucchini is cooked, it resembles the texture of noodles!  If you are only cooking for one person, it’s still worth it to buy a whole roasting chicken (they have local pasture raised ones at Whole Foods for about $3.99 a pound) because the leftovers are awesome eaten cold on top of a salad.

Five Spice Ginger Chicken with Chili Garlic Zucchini

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

For the chicken, you’ll need:

1 whole roasting chicken, skin on

1/2 Tablespoon salt

1 Tablespoon five spice

Fresh ginger root

1 1/2 Tablespoon coconut oil

half a bunch of celery, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1.  Rinse off the chicken and pat it dry. 

2.  Peel the ginger root with a vegetable peeler or a paring knife.  Slice the ginger root into about 6 quarter-sized pieces.  With the chicken breast facing up, separate the skin from the meat and put 3 pieces of ginger under each chicken breast.

3.  Stuff the chicken with the celery.

4.  Melt the coconut oil and pour it on the chicken, rubbing it with your hands to make sure its entirely coated.

5.  Mix the 5 spice and salt together and sprinkle them over the entire chicken.

6.  Put the chicken in a roasting pan or a large casserole dish and pour the chicken stock in. 

7.  Put the chicken in the pre-heated oven for about an hour.  While it’s cooking, take the chicken out of the oven every 20 minutes to baste it with the chicken stock.

Chili Garlic Zucchini

For the zucchini, you’ll need:

2 large zucchinis

2 Tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoons chili garlic sauce

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (peel it and grate it using a cheese grater or a microplane)

1.  Cut the ends of each zucchini.  In a food processor with a grater attachment, or with a cheese grater using the larger holes, shred the zucchini.

2.  Heat a large saute pan over medium/high heat.  When it is hot, add the coconut oil.

3.  After the coconut oil is melted and hot, put the zucchini in.  Stir and let it cook for about 2 minutes. 

4.  Add the salt, fresh ginger, and chili garlic sauce and stir to combine everything.  Cook for another 2 minutes until soft.