Oven roasted whole chicken with root vegetables

Easy, crisp roasted whole chicken over winter root vegetables.

Can we talk about how impressive this recipe looks? How domestic is this!? And you're not going to believe how easy this is to pull off. If you look at the next two pictures you're seeing the only thing this recipe requires. Chicken on rack over veggies on rack. The juice from the chicken drips onto the veggies, giving them extra seasoning and the chicken gets crispy all over since it's not touching a pan.

This recipe is amazingly simple and makes the best leftovers. 

I was also amazed by how good this chicken was. When you control the method and seasonings on a whole roasted chicken you realize just how massively under seasoned most roasted chickens are. I don't think you'll go back to ever buying a pre-done bird again. 

The great thing about this meal is how filling and simple it is for dinner and leftovers. This is grain free (obviously) and it's not missed here. With the variety of root vegges your palate gets to enjoy sweeter and starchier produce with lots of colors and aromas. I personally kept going for a ll the sweet potatoes but I wasn't hating a random radish once in a while. 

For leftovers I added the chicken and veggies on top of a shredded kale salad (although some really crisp romaine might have been even better). 

Before we get started, a quick word about buying your chicken. Start with the best ingredients you can. It makes a difference. If conventionally raised chicken is good for you and your tastes, do it. For us, our base line is buying organic meats because to us they actually taste better. Even better is getting to a butcher or farmer's market and getting meat there. Part of it is environment and ethics, but really it comes down to the final product taste. That matters A LOT, so don't ignore it. Go with what tastes good to you. 

oven roasted whole chicken with root vegetables

serves 4

/// Ingredients ///

• 4.25 pound whole organic chicken (or local- whatever floats your boat)
• 5 multi color carrots, peeled
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 white onion, rough chopped
• 10 radishes, halved
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper 
• 2 teaspoons EVOO
• fresh thyme

/// Directions /// Adjust oven racks so the top has enough clearance to place your chicken on top, and the bottom rack so it's a few inches below the top rack. Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.

Remove chicken from fridge. Remove giblets from inside bird and pat bird dry with paper towels and set aside on the counter and bring closer to room temperature. Prepare vegetables and set veggies on an aluminum covered baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss.

Salt and pepper the chicken on the outside and inside the cavity liberally. (Really-look how much salt and pepper I've got going on). Place the chicken on the top rack, directly on the oven rack. Place the veggies on the bottom rack under the rack with the chicken. Cook for 50-60 minutes or until the internal temperature (do not touch bone, make sure you go for the thigh area) is 160 F. Stir the veggies once through the process. 

Once the chicken is done with crisp, brown skin, remove the chicken from the oven and drain any juices from the inside cavity (we discarded since we didn't need, but you could definitely use for a sauce base later if you wanted). Plate veggies on a large platter. Place chicken on top. Garnish with fresh thyme. Carve and serve. 

Note: In researching the best way to cook a whole chicken I highly recommend reading this NYT article on roasting a chicken and this one from BA.  If you're interested. We incorporated a lot of the recommended methodologies to get a crisp skin and juicy chicken in this recipe.