Roasted Chicken with Winter Vegetables

It's time to get practicing on roasting birds to get ready for Thanksgiving.  Chickens use the same method and make a beautiful presentation so if you aren't feeling quite up to par on your turkey skills, these are a great way to gain that confidence.  Go ahead, volunteer to do the turkey this year!

Get fresh whole chickens so you don't have to deal with the thawing. The veggies are a "whatever is on hand" sort of thing, so if you have onions (quartered), squash (small chunks), apples (halved or quartered), or small carrots available those would be delicious with these flavors too.  I happened to have a bottle of Apple Beer handy so I used that and it tied everything together.  Roasting the veggies with the chicken means only one dish to clean afterwards and no mashed potatoes needed as a side dish.  Bonus: Save the chicken carcass to make stock and freeze it!  Chicken stock gives many holiday dishes that extra oomph of flavor and it's always better when homemade. 

As always, thanks go to my local farmers for many of these ingredients - chicken, yams, potatoes, tomatoes, salt (woot for Salt Lake!), rosemary, and parsley. 


Photo coming soon. 

Roasted Chicken with Winter Vegetables

INGREDIENTS
Whole Chicken, raw (5-6 lbs)
2-4 Yams / Sweet Potatoes
2 Tomatoes (optional)
1-2 Potatoes
1/2 cup beer (or other liquid such as apple juice or water)
4-5 Tbsp Salt
Ground Pepper
1 tsp Rosemary
Sprinkle of Garlic Powder
Sprinkle of Parsley Flakes
Big sprinkle of Oregano

DIRECTIONS
1. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
2. Put the chicken into a roasting pan and pour the salt over it, getting salt on as much of the bird as possible.  It seems like too much but it isn't.  This is the secret to perfect skin and moist meat!
3. Let sit out on the counter for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, cut the veggies into large chunks, about twice bite-size.  Pre-heat oven to 425.  Arrange veggies around chicken in roasting pan.
4.  Sprinkle herbs and spices over chicken and veggies.
5.  Bake at 425 for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 375 for one hour or until the chicken juices run clear and the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.  (Use a meat thermometer to be certain, and take it out as soon as it reaches this - hotter just makes it overcooked)
6.  Arrange on a platter and serve with pride!