Roasted Chicken with Rainbow Carrots

An oven-roasted chicken is a surefire way to look like you slaved over dinner when in fact, it’s extremely easy. It’s also a great way to use any leftover aromatics you may have in your fridge. This recipe requires very little hands-on time, so it’s one of my favorite go-to weeknight meals.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 4-lb chicken (approximately)
• 1 onion, halved or quartered
• 1 lemon, halved
• Herbs (thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage, or a combination)
• Sea salt
• 1 lb rainbow carrots
• Vegetable oil
• Ground pepper

PREPARATION:

Take the chicken out of the fridge about an hour before cooking. Meat cooks better and more evenly at room temperature. After an hour, rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Make sure you take out the packet of innards from the cavity of the bird or you’re in for a surprise when you start carving.

Stuff the cavity with the onion, lemon, and herbs. The onion I used here was gigantic so I only used one quarter of it, and I used half of a lemon, but judge for yourself what will fit. For the herbs, I used rosemary and thyme because I had them on hand, but sage or parsley would be great, too. Just stuff the herbs up there in the cavity, stems and all.

Truss the bird with kitchen string. Holding the legs together, loop the string around the neck and ends of the legs, pulling tight and tying off with a knot. I’ve never been very adept at this and my bird always looks a little tortured, but it doesn’t have to look pretty. Just make sure it sufficiently closes up the cavity so that all the good aromatics stay inside.

Rub sea salt all over the chicken. Seriously, the more salt the better, don’t be afraid to use too much. Place the chicken on a plate lined with paper towels. Do not refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. The first time I made this recipe I had my oven at 450 and my kitchen got extremely smoky towards the end of cooking, so I turned the temp down a bit here. Put the chicken in a cast iron skillet, tucking the wings underneath. Place in the oven for about 1 hour, or until the juices run clear (explained in more detail below).

Once the chicken is in the oven, start on the carrots. I used rainbow carrots here because their color makes for a nice presentation, but any carrots will do.

Cut off the green leafy tops, leaving about 1 inch of stem. Rinse and scrub thoroughly because these guys tend to be pretty dirty. Peel, then place in a bowl, drizzle with just a little bit of vegetable oil, and toss with salt and pepper.

When the chicken has about 20 minutes left on the timer, take the cast iron out of the oven. Place the carrots evenly all around the chicken in the skillet and return everything to the oven for the time remaining.

After an hour, take out the skillet and tip the chicken to cause the juices to run out of the cavity. If the juices are not clear, roast for another 5 minutes or so. When ready, remove carrots to a plate and keep warm. Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes, then carve and serve with the carrots.

Don’t forget to save that chicken carcass to make super easy chicken stock to use in soups.