Roast Chicken and Potatoes with Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary

Is there anything better than a nice, delicious roast chicken for dinner on a Sunday night in the fall? That, plus an insanely good episode of Homeland make for a very nice end to the weekend.

I made my first roast chicken last winter and have made many more since then, always on Sunday nights. There's something so comforting about roast chicken. It's very easy to make (although time consuming, which is why I stick to Sunday nights rather than work nights), and my apartment always smells incredible. I also love having left overs for lunch the following week.

My aunt recently told me she used Jamie Oliver's recipe for roast chicken and that it was fabulous, so I figured I'd give it a shot last night and fabulous it was!

I also love the color of the potatoes I used. Mixed with the colorful green beans, this plate couldn't get any more gorgeous. Or delicious.

Roast Chicken and Potatoes with Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary

Cooking time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients:

For the chicken and potatoes:

1 free-range organic chicken
4 1/2 pounds potatoes, cubed (I used colored potatoes)
1 lemon
1 bulb of garlic, broken into cloves (not peeled)
4 sprigs of rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

For the green beans:

12 ounces fresh green beans
1/4 onion, diced
1 glove garlic, diced
Oliver oil

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes, whole lemon, and garlic, and cook for 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, rub the chicken with olive oil and generous amounts of salt and pepper. 

Drain the potatoes, lemon, and garlic cloves. While the lemon is still hot, carefully stab it 10 times. Put the lemon, garlic cloves, and rosemary sprigs into the chicken cavity and tie the leg bones together with cooking string to keep in the flavor. Place in a roasting pan (I don't have a roasting rack... yet) and cook for 45 minutes.

Toss the potatoes with olive oil, some rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste. Remove the chicken from the oven and place the potatoes around the chicken. Put it back in the oven and cook for another 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden. 

I forgot to do this, but Jamie Oliver suggests removing the lemon from the cavity and squeezing it all over the chicken and doing the same with the garlic gloves (mush it up and smear it all over the chicken). I imagine this really adds to the flavor and will definitely not forget to do it next time. I did remove the rosemary and had some of it on my chicken. Delicious! 

Start cooking the green beans while the chicken still has another 15 minutes in the oven. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil for 2-3 minutes on low heat. Add the green beans and sauté for 8 minutes, or until they're cooked to your desire (I like mine a little on the al dente side). 

The chicken was incredibly most and tender, and the potatoes and green beans were terrific. 

I also made an fabulous gluten-free apple crumble for dessert, and I'll be sharing that recipe with you tomorrow!