The paleo diet

ROASTED LEMON CHICKEN

I try to make a roast chicken every weekend—it’s a great way to make sure you have leftovers for the week, and I always make bone broth with the carcass (see the Chicken Soup recipe here). For so long, a roast chicken seemed really intimidating, like it was the holy grail of housewives everywhere; but I soon learned there’s nothing particularly complicated about cooking a whole chicken. It’s actually quite easy, and super flavorful, and once you get the hang of it, the whole thing just becomes a nice habit. SERVES 4

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOK TIME: 1 hour, 40 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 2 hours

1 (5 to 6 pound) chicken

Pinch dried oregano

Pinch red pepper flakes

Pinch celery seed

Pinch dried parsley flakes

Pinch dried sage

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, halved

1 garlic bulb, cut in half widthwise and outer skin removed,

1 clove reserved

1 dried bay leaf

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ onion, quartered

2 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Place the chicken on a large plate or a plastic cutting board. Make sure the giblets have been removed from inside the bird, and pat the skin dry with a paper towel.
3. Season the chicken with the oregano, red pepper flakes, celery seed, parsley flakes, and sage, season with salt and pepper, and stuff the inside of the bird with the lemon, garlic bulb, and bay leaf.
4. In a large pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onion and the reserved garlic clove until translucent while searing the bird breast-side down in the pan to brown the skin, about 5 minutes. Flip the bird over, and transfer it and the onion and garlic to a roasting pan (or leave it in the Dutch oven, if using).
5. Add the carrots, and transfer the pan to the oven. Roast for 1½ hours, or until the juices run clear when the thigh is poked with a knife.
6. Remove the bird from the oven, and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
7. Keep the drippings, leftover veggies, and chicken carcass to make broth (see here).

VARIATION 1 ROSEMARY-LEMON CHICKEN: Use fresh oregano instead of dried, and stuff the bird with several fresh rosemary sprigs, reserving a tablespoon or so of the leaves for garnish (see photo below).

VARIATION 2 CRISPY BUTTER CHICKEN: Before roasting, slather the bird with plenty of grass-fed butter for an extra-crispy skin. Cut up 1 or 2 tablespoons butter, and stuff it underneath the skin of the breast.

PALEO PAIR: Serve with Bacon Brussels Sprouts (here) for a complete dinner.