I really love meal planning. Every weekend I sit down in front of my laptop (with google calendar open to mark days when I have plans after work) and start creating my meal plan for the week (with an accompanying grocery list). I may start brainstorming based on a few ingredients we have at home (like a veggie, a protein, or an open package of goat cheese); sometimes I crave a particular dish (probably because I’ve seen it or was reminded of it through a recipe somewhere in the blogosphere) but in either case I typically stick to a formula of sorts – a meat dish, a vegetarian dish, a seafood dish, maybe a dinner out, then a (almost) no-cook meal (like a leftovers, jarred sauce + chicken or tofu, or pita pizzas); rinse and repeat. lol
I love love love this process. Searching through my google reader for ideas with a specific ingredient or browsing through cookbooks is almost meditative to me. I honestly could spend hours on it as I click through recipe after recipe. So many meals, so little time!
I often ask Adam if there is anything he’s craving and the answer is usually no, or… it’s been a while since you’ve made us banh mis. Yes, we love ‘em round these parts.
A few weeks ago, though, Adam surprised me and said he wanted something with maple syrup. Really??! Maybe he was subconsciously still thinking about those maple scones I made a while back?? I know I’ve been thinking about them ever since but I have a food-crazy mind.
Not surprisingly, my google reader had nothing in the savory department with maple syrup… but I imagined a nice roasted chicken with crispy skin and a maple glaze. So I got to work…
I used this recipe for maple glazed duck as my base but used a chicken we recently got in our meat CSA. Chicken cooks a bit differently from duck – I followed this roasting time guide and then made sure the thermometer read 175*. I also placed carrots under the chicken which absorbed all its juices. Root veggies under roasted chicken are actually my favorite part of the meal!
We don’t eat nearly enough roasted chicken but I just love it. The meat was super juicy… the only thing – the maple flavor wasn’t pronounced enough! 
The carrots were spot on though– they really caramelized. LOVE.
I’m still impressed with pulling this off on a weeknight! 
Do you meal plan? Any favorite savory recipes with maple syrup? I want MORE! 
That meal looks delicious and totally restaurant worthy! I love using maple syrup on sweet potatoes. Maple roasted brussels sprouts are awesome as well.
Pork. Pork is fabulous with maple syrup.
I made this recipe of Riccardo’s once and had really good results:
Pork Tenderloins Glazed with Maple-Beet Sauce
http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Main/Pork/recipe.html?dishid=8404
That recipe look phenomenal. Thanks for forwarding!!
That dinner looks delicious! I also plan ahead because if I don’t there won’t be much of a meal. We were just talking about roasting a chicken, maybe we will try a maple glaze!
I think that maybe reducing the maple syrup a bit would have made for a thicker maple crust. Let me know if you try it… I think there is potential there
Elina, this meal looks simply fantastic! I rarely make roasted chicken, and it is blog posts like this one that remind me of how delicious it is. Those carrots look divine!
I also love to meal plan. I have copious amounts of saved recipes and cookbooks, and agree completely with you that pouring over them has a meditative quality to it
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I second maple-roasted Brussels sprouts!
How do you make maple roasted brussels sprouts?? It’s crazy that so many of you love ‘em. It honestly sounds a bit weird to me
I don’t have any savory maple syrup recipes, but maybe if you made a sauce to serve with the chicken, that would help enhance the maple-syrupyness?
I love maple-glazed Brussels sprouts!
You’re the 3rd person recommending maple glazed brussles sprouts. I’ve never even heard of them. Have I been living under a rock?!! lol
Oh those carrots!! I’d eat them every day if they came glazed in maple!
what a delicious meal!! love the maple glaze here
i’m drawing a blank on other savory maple recipes, but if they come to me i’ll let you know!
I love to meal plan too!!
I was going to tell you about the brussels sprouts but people already have ha!
I’ve also made pumpkin spice roasted chickpeas: http://www.thesweetslife.com/2010/11/pumpkin-spice-roasted-chickpeas.html
Also this salad uses it in the dressing: http://www.thesweetslife.com/2010/08/strawberry-and-mandarin-orange-salad.html
You definitely beat out my weeknight meals! Bravo!
I do love meal planning and I also love adding maple syrup to savory meals. My favorite is my maple bacon Brussels Sprouts recipe
I love meal planning too! We have a little calendar that we stick on our fridge that shows what we’re having for dinner. But we always end up either missing a day or having so many leftovers that we have to skip a meal!
I made shrimp with a maple orange sauce last night! I absolutely love meal planning, and recently I have gotten all old fashioned with cookbooks, pen and paper, planning out my meals in bed with a glass of wine. So relaxing!
P.S. My sriracha maple Brussels sprouts are here: http://traveleatlove.com/2010/11/sriracha-maple-brussels-sprouts/
Ooh this sounds wonderful, and those carrots look perfectly caramelized. I recently made brussels sprouts with a maple-dijon glaze. I also know plenty of baked goods with maple syrup, like maple-pecan breakfast cake.
[...] Maple glazed roasted chicken (and carrots) [...]
[...] know how I talked about my love of meal planning? Well, it’s true. I LOVE it. Unfortunately, I often get a little too ambitious/excited about [...]