By very quick and easy I mean it takes you 5 minutes to put it in the oven and then you lie on the sofa with a glass of wine for an hour and it's done. I may be showing my age but I consider that not only a good and helpful meal but a very satisfactory evening. Use sweet potatoes or regular potatoes it really doesn't matter.  If you're after extra crispy potatoes put them on their own baking sheet.  This is very close to a Nigella Lawson recipe I'll admit, but honestly I've been doing this for years! For dessert my usual standby of a fruit cobbler always pleases, especially with a healthy scoop of ice cream.

Saturday Night Roast Chicken with Potatoes.

1 4 lb chicken

2 tablespoons of room temperature unsalted butter

A couple of cloves of garlic

Fresh herbs, whatever you have on hand, I used parsley last night

salt and pepper

Harissa spice OR a mixture of cumin, cardamon, cinnamon and coriander.

Olive oil

Baking or sweet potatoes.

Heat the oven to 425 F

Pat the chicken dry and smear the butter all over it.  Sprinkle the chicken with a very liberal hand the salt, pepper, harissa spice or spice mixture inside and out.

Stuff it with the garlic cloves and fresh herbs, place in a baking tray and put in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.

Peel the potatoes.  After the chicken has roasted for the first 30 minutes, remove from the oven, scatter the potatoes around the chicken, toss them in the juices and sprinkle a little extra harissa spice over them.  If you wish to cook them separately, toss them in a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and spice mixture and place on another baking sheet and place in the oven.

Place back into the oven and roast for approximately another 45 minutes or until they are thoroughly cooked through and the chicken is a gorgeous golden brown.

To serve, I left this in the pan and let the vultures devour it in their own fashion.

While dessert rested patiently on the side.