Simple Roast Chicken

Total Time:  2 hrs. 10 min

Prep:  20 min
Inactive:  20 min
Cook:  1 hr. 30 min
Yield:  8 servings

Ingredients

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
2 tablespoons salt-free chicken seasoning, divided (recommended: McCormick Grill Mates or Mrs. Dash)
2 Meyer lemon, halved
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
8 stalks celery, rinsed and trimmed, leaves chopped and reserved
Olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Clean the chicken inside and out. Rinse well. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry.

Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.  Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of one lemon, and all the garlic.

Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and olive oil.

Lift breast skin and place olive oil and seasonings.  Sprinkle outside with thyme, salt, chicken seasoning, and cracked pepper.  Squeeze juice from one lemon over chicken. Rub all seasonings into skin.

Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and celery in a roasting pan. Toss with pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Tent chicken with foil. Roast the chicken for 1hour. Remove foil and continue roasting for 1/2 hours, or until skin browned and the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes.  Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.
Pan drippings can be thickened and used for gravy.