Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken with Lemony Root Vegetables

Use a 4- to 4.5-pound roasting chicken that is organically or free-range raised and not treated with antibiotics or hormones. This size chicken will not dry out when roasted with vegetables in the same dish. Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables contains lemony herb butter, crispy chicken skin, and root vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, turnips, shallots, and garlic.

Vegetables in the vegetable garden bed include Yukon Gold potatoes, turnips, and shallots sliced, and carrot and garlic pieces left with the skin on. Other vegetables are seasoned with parsley, rosemary, and thyme, olive oil, salt, and pepper; one tablespoon of parsley, rosemary, and thyme is added to the vegetables before baking. Other herbs are mixed with softened butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, and pepper and used to coat the bird.

Roasting at 400 degrees causes the buttered chicken skin to brown. Stock in the roasting pan helps vegetables cook and prevents butter on the chicken from burning. Indicators of a fully roasted chicken include browning skin, clear juices, and slightly parted joints. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest area of a thigh, avoiding bones. A major drawback of this recipe is a chicken that weighs more than 4½ pounds, which takes longer to roast and leads to overcooked vegetables.

Serve carved chicken with vegetables and rolls. Possible roll uses: dipping and eating rolls in pan drippings with roasted garlic cloves. At least two more meals can be prepared from a whole chicken. Bones from a whole chicken can be saved to make a chicken stock at a later time.