Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

  You can never have too much chicken, right? This week I made a roast chicken over a bed of root vegetables. I must say, it was fantastic. You know your dinner is good when your husband loudly "mmmms" with every bite, then sits in silence with his eyes closed to appreciate it.

I thought it was very creepy sweet. I'm sure I've had parsnips and rutabagas at some point in my life (right, mom?) but I swear this felt like a first time experience. I could not believe the excellent flavor coming from these bland looking veggies. It was like a radish, a cabbage, and a potato made a love child. And that love child is pure awesomeness. 



Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables

• 1 whole chicken, mine was 4.7 lbs.
• 3 parsnips
• 2 rutabagas
• white potatoes or other small potatoes, skin on (about 1.6 lbs)
• 1 whole yellow onion, roughly chopped in large rustic pieces
• Herbs de provence
• Garlic and herb butter, about 1 Tb, softened. Or plain salted butter or olive oil works too
• 3 lemons, quartered
• S&P

Preparation & Cooking Instructions

  Before the cooking process it's best to wash and dry your chicken, remove the giblets, then leave it out on the counter for about two hours to allow it to come up to room temperature. If you're in a hurry you can skip leaving it out, but it will need longer to cook and may not cook as evenly. Wash, dry, peel (leave the skin on the potatoes), and roughly chop all of the vegetables. Place them in your baking dish or roasting pan and toss with olive oil, herbs de provence, salt, and pepper. Preheat you oven to 425 F. Salt the inside of the cavity then sprinkle generously with the herbs de provence blend, about a Tb. Quarter the lemons, and stuff two lemons inside the cavity of the bird and squeeze the juice of the other lemon over the veggies, then place in the roasting pan.

  Truss your chicken however you'd like, I find it's easiest to just tie up the legs over the breast. Take the butter that has been softened at room temperature and rub all over the bird, be sure to get the sides and not just the top of the chicken. After the butter has coated the exterior sprinkle the whole chicken with salt and pepper then place on top of the veggies. Bake the chicken at 425 F, it took 70 minutes for my 4.7 lb. chicken to fully cook. It's up to you whether or not you want to baste the chicken. I did this time and the skin didn't get as crispy as I would have preferred, so I say skip the basting. This isn't a big old Thanksgiving turkey so I don't think it's necessary. Take the chicken out and place it on the cutting board, cover tightly with aluminum foil. While the chicken rests for 20 minutes, put the vegetables back into the oven to let them caramelize. Carve the chicken and serve it over the vegetables. Enjoy!!

This was excellent with Sauvignon Blanc ^_^