On the menu:
Spinach Salad with Basil
Roast Chicken
Creamy Pesto Sauce (used as a salad dressing and a spread for the chicken)
Corn on the Cob
All right, I've got to admit this one was a pretty soft pitch for me. I cooked it myself and served it to just my parents, my brother, and my husband for dinner. To remind everyone of the challenge this time, it had to meet my diet (no sugar, dairy, eggs, or wheat), be low-carb (for my parents) and be something my dad would eat. He's pretty picky.
I used a standby in my repertoire--roast chicken--and nearly
botched that. I'm not used to my mom's oven, we roasted two chickens at
once, yada yada. Suffice it to say it was not done when I thought it
was. Nonetheless, dinner was good, in part because of some great fresh Ohio
produce--corn and tomatoes from the farm market and basil from my mom's
garden (see photo). My brother liked the pesto sauce so much he ate what was left with a spoon for dessert. My dad said it was "fine," ate a lot of corn, and even tried some of the pesto after he weaseled the name of the previously secret ingredient (tofu) out of my brother and me.
Roast Chicken
1 2-3 pound whole chicken
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. Truss the chicken. (Click here
for my instructional video on trussing a chicken.) Put the chicken in a
casserole dish or roasting pan. Roast until it is done (20 minutes per pound) or
until a meat thermometer inserted in meatiest part reads at least 185.
There is no need to baste the chicken or do anything else with it while
it is roasting.
When it is done, remove
chicken from oven and add remaining rosemary to juices at bottom of
pan. Spoon the juices over the top of the chicken and allow to sit for
15 minutes, continuing to spoon juices over it every so often.

Spinach Salad with Basil
1 bag baby spinach
1 1/2 large tomatoes, sliced or diced
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
Toss the ingredients together in a large salad bowl.
Creamy Pesto Sauce
2 cups fresh basil
2 tablespoons silken tofu (or yogurt or sour cream, if you eat dairy)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
3 heads garlic
2/3 cup pine nuts (I prefer walnuts, but they don’t agree with my mom)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor until they are creamy. Drizzle on the salad and spread on the chicken.
Corn on the Cob
Remove husks and silk. Boil in salted water for 8-10 minutes until tender.