Lemon Roast Chicken with Vegetables

I used to make a whole roast chicken with vegetables. It was a great one-dish meal . . . when it turned out. The problem was that if the chicken was a little too big or a little too cold when I put it into the oven, then it took longer for the chicken to cook than for the vegetables. Since we didn't want to eat under-cooked chicken, we sometimes ended up with over-cooked vegetables. The other problem was that as Michael has become more sensitive to corn in the food he eats, he has begun to react to whole roast chicken. At first I thought that buying an organic or kosher chicken would help, but it doesn't always. So, since I really like roast chicken and vegetables, and especially as a one-dish meal, I needed to come up with an alternative.

I decided to try buying a whole chicken that was already cut into pieces. If I buy kosher or organic chicken and wash the chicken pieces really well in cold water, Michael doesn't react. I think the combination of the kosher/organic chicken, the washing, and the high roasting temperature makes the cooked chicken corn-free. Hooray!

Lemon Roast Chicken with Vegetables
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 whole kosher or organic chicken, bought already cut into 8 pieces that still have the bones in and skin on
• 1 1/2 lb. potatoes. Any kind of potato works except for Russet, which fall apart.
• 1 lb. baby carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 lemons

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Immediately take the carrots out of the refrigerator so that they can come to room temperature. Pour the carrots into a large bowl.

Lightly grease a 9"x13" Pyrex pan with olive oil. Thoroughly rinse the chicken pieces in cold water. Dry them with paper towels and then place them in the pan in a single layer. Sprinkle the chicken with kosher salt and pepper.

Rinse and dry the potatoes, and then cut them into 1 1/2 to 2-inch cubes. Add the potatoes to the bowl with the carrots. Chop the onion and add it to the bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables and toss to coat. Then sprinkle the 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, garlic, and thyme over the vegetables and toss the vegetables again so that they are evenly covered with the herbs and spices.

Place the vegetables on top of the chicken pieces so that they cover the chicken. Put the pan in the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and take the chicken pieces out of the pan. Toss the vegetables in the juices and then spread the vegetables so that they lay evenly in the pan. Place the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables. Return the pan to the oven and roast for 20 more minutes.

Take the pan out of the oven and check to make sure that the chicken is cooked fully. Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a serving plate. Drizzle the juice of 1/2 lemon over the top of the chicken pieces. Drizzle the juice from the other 1 1/2 lemons onto the vegetables and then toss the vegetables in the roasting pan. Transfer the vegetables to a serving bowl.

Since I never remember who likes white meat versus dark meat, I let people serve themselves from the plate of chicken pieces and the bowl of vegetables. If you have more than two people who like white meat, either cut the breasts in half or draw straws to decide who gets them.