Roasted Chicken with Moroccan-flavored Vegetables

We usually make Moroccan-flavored vegetables as a side dish, and somehow it only recently occurred to us that we could turn them into an entire meal by roasting them with a chicken (yes, we will be graduating from college in three months). I'm so glad that genius finally struck though, because this is a simple and delicious weeknight meal that I would definitely repeat. It has the same healthiness as our usual chicken with onions, potatoes and carrots, but with a much more exotic flavor that we love. Slightly more upscale (and prettier colors!) for minimal additional work.

And if all that weren't enough, this dish features some of our favorite foods: sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Simply chop them into chunks with red pepper and onion, dress, and roast with the chicken. The only slightly annoying part is that butternut squash is so darn difficult to peel -- suggestions anyone?


Ingredients:
2 large onions, cut into large chunks
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch cubes
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch strips
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp kosher salt
6 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp pepper
1 6-lb. roasting chicken

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Combine onions, squash, sweet potatoes and peppers in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, cinnamon, sugar, 1 tbsp salt and 4 tsp cumin. Toss this mixture over the vegetables, and stir until they are coated. Sprinkle remaining 2 tsp cumin, 1 tbsp salt and pepper on the chicken. Place vegetables around the chicken (if they don't fit, you can put some in a separate roasting pan. Cook chicken and vegetables for about 2 hours, until meat is cooked through. If you have some vegetables in a separate pan, they can probably come out after about 1 1/2 hours.