Herb Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

As soon as temperatures drop, I switch my cooking style from frequent grilling to roasting. I love roasting pretty much any kind of vegetables, and a nice whole chicken is such an easy and elegant main course. I saw a recipe like this at work, and loved the idea of roasting the chicken and veggies all in one pan.

I rubbed an herb butter all over the raw chicken, making sure to get some butter under the skin. I chopped a couple carrots, parsnips, and potatoes into bite sized chunks, and tossed them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. I spread the vegetables in the bottom of my cast iron casserole pan, and placed the chicken right on top of the veggies. When the chicken was done, I let it rest on the cutting board, and placed the pan back in the oven so the vegetables could finish cooking. Served with a salad, this was a simple and comforting Sunday night dinner.

I could never write a cookbook, because I'm way too lazy when it comes to writing down recipes. This was made up on the fly, but I'll do the best I can to tell you what to do :) This is a recipe you could easily play around with, depending what you have around the kitchen.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the following ingredients to make an herb compound butter:

6-8 Tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

1 tsp fresh thyme, minced

1 tsp fresh lemon zest

1 clove of garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Peel and chop your root vegetables, trying to cut the pieces into a consistent size. I used 2 large carrots, 2 large parsnips, and 4 or 5 new potatoes (skin on). Toss the vegetables into your roasting pan or cast iron pot, and toss with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Rinse a whole chicken and pat dry. Season the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper, and put slices of lemon inside. Rub the herb butter all over the chicken, pushing lots of the butter under the skin. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, and place into the preheated oven.

Cook the chicken until a thermometer reads 165 degrees. If the vegetables are not soft and getting crispy, remove the chicken and put the vegetables back in the oven until they get to the level of doneness you desire. Serve the roasted vegetables alongside slices of the roast chicken.