How to Roast a Turkey

Roast a turkey any time of the year!

Feeding a family on a budget can be tricky.  Sometimes, you need to get creative.  I try to buy food items when they are in season or when they are on sale.  Holidays are perfect times to catch a  sale.  So, every year right before Thanksgiving, I stock up for the winter.  At that time, where I live, you can buy a 20 pound turkey for less than $6, a box of stuffing for less than $1, and many other great deals.  I usually buy one or two turkeys and put them in my chest freezer.  Well, this week, I decided to get one out to thaw.  I roasted it, then cooked fresh vegetables in the remaining juices.  I will share my recipe for Roasted Turkey with Vegetables and then let you know what I did with the leftovers.

Roasted Turkey with Vegetables

Ingredients for Roasted Turkey with Vegetables:

1 turkey, size of your choice ( I used a 20 pound turkey, because I have a large family and I wanted leftovers.)

8-10 medium potatoes

1 pound carrots

1 pound asparagus, chopped in to 1 inch pieces

1 medium red  onion, quartered and sliced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions for Roasted Turkey with Vegetables:

Be sure the turkey is completely thawed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove giblets and the neck, if your turkey has any, set them aside if you want to use them later.  Rinse the turkey, inside and out then dry with paper towels.  I like the skin to be crispy, so I smear the turkey with olive oil, then rub with salt and pepper.

Place turkey on a roasting pan, breast side up.  Then cover breast with foil, place in center of oven.  You may need to remove the  top oven rack, depending on the size of your oven and your turkey. 

Roast the turkey at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes per pound or until a meat thermometer stuck in to the center of the thigh reads at least 165 degrees F (remove foil for the last 30-40 minutes to brown the breast) .

While the turkey is roasting, prepare the vegetables as listed above.

After the turkey is done roasting, remove it from the oven.  Allow it to cool for about 15 minutes.  Then remove the turkey from the roasting pan on to a jelly roll pan or another roasting pan leaving the  juices in the pan.

Place all of the vegetables in to the roasting pan with the turkey juices, add broth or water to the pan as needed.  Add salt and pepper to taste, cover with foil, place in oven and roast for 45-60 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Carve the turkey, and serve.

This dish went over very well with my family.  As they came in to the kitchen while it was cooking and saw what it was, they asked, ‘Are we having company?’  ‘Is there a special occasion?’  I cook for them nearly every day, I guess roasted turkey just makes them think the day is special.

Roasted Turkey with Vegetables, a delicious meal that makes everyone think it is a special occasion.