Simple Roast Chicken with roasted vegetables

All of my meals lately have been thrown together at the last minute.  This was one of those meals and it turned out so delicious!  We love roast chickens and there's never any leftovers...so next time I'm making two!!  If you have a family of 4 or more, I would definitely suggest making 2 chickens.  I love organic chickens, they are so tender and juicy.  When I'm buying a whole chicken I tend to splurge and spend a few extra dollars to buy the organic kind.  I had all of the vegetables already, so it only turned out to be an $11 meal for the entire family.  Not bad!

Simple Roast Chicken with roasted vegetables { Ina Garten }

INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN:

• 1 Whole Roasting Chicken {about 5 lbs.}
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• 1 lemon, sliced in half
• 1 bunch of fresh thyme sprigs {about 15 sprigs}
• 1 head of garlic, cut in half

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Remove anything that might have been left inside chicken.  Rinse throughly and pat dry with paper towels.  Sprinkle the inside of the chicken thoroughly with salt and pepper.  Place the 2 halves of lemon, bunch of thyme and head of garlic all in the chicken cavity.  

Spread melted butter all over the chicken and season all over with more kosher salt and black pepper.  

Tie legs together with kitchen twine and tuck wings under the body of the chicken {I didn't tuck the wings under}.

Roasted Vegetables: { you can use any vegetables you like...this is what I had on hand}

• 4 large carrots, cut in thick chunks
• 5 medium yukon gold potatoes, cut in large chunks
• 2 shallots, cut in large chunks
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut in 2 inch cubes
• 2 cups sugar snap peas
• olive oil
• kosher salt
• black pepper

Mix vegetables together in a large bowl and toss with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Spread vegetables around the bottom of a large roasting pan and place chicken on top{OR you can roast the vegetables alongside the chicken in a separate roasting pan}.  I roasted my vegetables in a separate pan next to the chicken for about 50 minutes.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between leg and thigh.

Remove chicken and vegetables onto a platter and cover for about 10 minutes.   Slice chicken and serve with vegetables.