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1-1⁄2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

SALT AND PEPPER

GRATED ZEST OF 1 LEMON

2 TEASPOONS FINELY CHOPPED ROSEMARY OR SAGE

1 GARLIC CLOVE, MINCED

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Pat the chicken dry, then gently loosen the skin with your hands.

2. Mix the butter with 1⁄4 teaspoon salt, pepper, lemon zest, rosemary or sage, and garlic. Spread it under the skin and over the meat.

3. Season the whole breast well with salt and freshly ground pepper, then set the breast, skin side up, on a foil-lined sheet pan or in a baking dish. Roast for 35 minutes, or until the meat thermometer registers 160 degrees at the thickest part of the breast. Take it out of the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, then carve off as much as you wish to eat. Wrap and refrigerate the rest for your next dish.

Guacamole for One

Given that this guacamole, along with some blue corn chips or a warm tortilla, might be your dinner, it has more tomato than normal, making it a bit more salady.

1 HEAPING TABLESPOON FINELY DICED WHITE ONION

2 TABLESPOONS CHOPPED CILANTRO

1 SCANT TEASPOON FINELY DICED JALAPEÑO CHILE

SALT

1 AVOCADO

1 TOMATO, SEEDED AND DICED

1 TEASPOON LIME JUICE, TO TASTE

Chop the onion, cilantro, and chile with 1⁄4 teaspoon salt to make a rough paste. Pit, peel, and mash the avocado with a fork, keeping it chunky. Add the onion mixture and tomatoes, season with half the lime juice, then taste and add more, if needed.

Roasted Summer Vegetables

Summer vegetables, including freshly dug potatoes and carrots, have more moisture than winter’s roots, so chances are they’ll cook much faster. Just be sure to give them lots of room so that they don’t crowd each other. Here are some amounts to get you started, but they’re hardly absolute and certainly varieties can be mixed—yellow, green, and black zucchini or pattypans; cipollini, torpedo, or regular old yellow onions, and so forth. There’s enough here for more than one meal. Leftovers make a great room-temperature salad.

1 MEDIUM-SIZE EGGPLANT, CUT INTO WEDGES OR CUBES

SALT AND PEPPER

4 FINGERLING POTATOES, SCRUBBED

2 ZUCCHINI, HALVED LENGTHWISE AND CUT INTO 2-INCH SECTIONS

2 LARGE CARROTS, PEELED AND SLICED INTO 1⁄4-INCH ROUNDS

1 HEAD GARLIC, CLOVES SEPARATED BUT NOT PEELED

1 OR 2 BELL PEPPERS, CUT INTO LONG INCH-WIDE STRIPS

1 LARGE OR 3 SMALL ONIONS, PEELED, CUT INTO WEDGES WITH THE ROOT ENDS ATTACHED

2 HANDFULS CHERRY TOMATOES, STEMS REMOVED

OLIVE OIL

CHOPPED HERBS, SUCH AS THYME, ROSEMARY, OREGANO, PARSLEY

1. Toss the eggplant with 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt and set aside in a colander to drain. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. While it’s heating, wash and cut the rest of the vegetables and put them in a bowl.

2. Once the oven is hot, quickly rinse the eggplant and blot it dry, then add it to the bowl. Toss with enough oil to moisten, about 3 or 4 tablespoons, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

3. Spread the vegetables out onto a sheet pan, then put in the center of the oven and roast until they’ve colored in places and become tender, about 25 minutes, turning them once or twice while cooking. Remove and scatter fresh herbs over all. Serve hot or tepid.

Roasted Winter Vegetables

Sometimes roasting just one or two vegetables is perfect. But it’s also fun to have a mix, and you’ve got a lot of very tasty, rooty options during the fall and winter months. Like what? Rutabagas and turnips, winter squash, celery root, parsnips, and, not to be overlooked, Jerusalem artichokes. If they’re available, take Laura Calder’s suggestion and throw in a handful of cherry tomatoes.

Although the preparation is easy enough, it does take 45 minutes to roast dense roots that have been cut into large chunks. And because they do take a while, I suggest preparing enough to turn some into a roasted vegetable chowder—at least eight cups of prepared vegetables, as they will shrink to almost half their volume.

Two tips: To get lots of good caramelization, give your vegetables