Oven-Roasted Chicken

Chatting with my friend Danielle before class today, I mentioned that I planned to roast a chicken for dinner tonight. Her eyes widened: "But isn't that hard?," she asked.

Actually, nope. Roasting a chicken is cheaper and often easier than dealing with parts. We love this recipe; our moms (and yours) have been making it for years. Simple and classic, this is absolutely something to try for dinner this week. Just to note, though, if you haven't cooked a whole chicken before, be aware that extra parts are stored inside of the chicken. The first time I prepared one alone, I screamed and almost dropped the entire bird when I stuck my hand inside and found gizzards. Oops.

Ingredients:
4-5 lb. chicken
3 medium-sized onions, cut into chunky pieces
4 carrots, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 lbs. small red potatoes, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp thyme
3 tbsp rosemary
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon
salt and pepper

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375. Wash and pat dry the chicken. Remove its insides, if they are there. Place it in a roasting pan. In a bowl, combine the vegetables and pour the olive oil over them. Add half of the rosemary and thyme, and mix it over the vegetables. Rub the rest of the rosemary and time over the chicken and beneath its skin. Do the same with the garlic. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over it, and place the lemon itself in the cavity of the chicken. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken, and then add the vegetables around the chicken in the roasting pan. Cook the chicken for about 2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut into it.