Roasted Lemon Chicken with Roasted Garlic Vegetables

Good morning! It's been chilly here in Texas this weekend! It's only 54 degrees outside right now, brr! I love the cold weather, but I won't get too excited as it's supposed to be in the 80's later in the week. Last night I made a delicious whole chicken with vegetables to go along side. It was so good! I personally love lemon with chicken, and could always eat it that way. If you're not a fan, just leave it out! The vegetables were so good as well. I left the skin on the potatoes and I didn't peel the carrots because I like the rustic look and taste of it, but feel free to make it to your liking. Another great thing, is that while the chicken is cooking, you can prepare your vegetables, then just cook them right along side the chicken, and if you time it right, everything will be done at the same time. I can't wait to share this with you, so let's just get right to it, shall we?

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Ingredients (chicken):

1 Whole Chicken (mine was around 4.5 lbs)

3 Small Lemons

2 Garlic Cloves

3 Tablespoons Butter

1 Teaspoon Dried Italian Seasoning

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions (chicken):

Rinse chicken under cold water and remove any innards. Pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a baking dish. Melt your butter then add the juice of 2 lemons, the Italian seasoning, salt & pepper, and mince your garlic, then sprinkle some salt on it, and mash it until it becomes sort of pasty, then add that to the butter as well; mix everything together. With a brush, brush the butter mixture all over the chicken, coating all areas evenly. Place leftover squeezed lemon pieces in the cavity of the chicken. Place in a pre-heated 475 degree oven for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 375 degrees and take chicken out and slice up your last lemon and cover the chicken with it, then cover it with foil and poke holes to vent and continue cooking for 2 1/2 hours.

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Ingredients (potatoes):

5 Medium Sized Russet Potatoes

3 Large Carrots

3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

6 Garlic Cloves

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions (potatoes):

Wash potatoes and carrots. Cut potatoes in medium sized chunks. Cut carrots whole, starting at the small end going up to the big end, just in thick disks. Place on a cookie sheet and drizzle with oil, then sprinkle salt & pepper and mix everything with your hands coating it all evenly. Take a small piece of foil and add your peeled garlic cloves, close up the foil, and clear a small space on the pan and place it right on it. Cover the entire pan with foil and put in a pre-heat 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove pan, and take off foil and stir vegetables, and take garlic out of the foil, and mash it with the back of a spoon (as it should be soft by now) and mix it evenly throughout the vegetables. Return to the oven for another 30 minutes without the foil.