You can be endlessly inventive with vegetable stacks, discovering your own favorite combinations. You want to cut the vegetables about 1/2 inch thick, and then layer twice—any higher than that and your stack is likely to topple.
good-quality olive oil
Mark Bittman’s Spatchcocked Chicken with Garlic, Parsley, and Orange
Remove the backbone from a whole bird and it will lie flat, instantly doubling the surface area—and the flavor and crisping potential. This easy technique is called spatchcocking or butterflying. I almost always do chicken like this now, and it’s also perfect for turkey and small birds like pheasants and guinea hens.