Who’s ready for turkey day? Most years our little family road trips with friends to Flagstaff, Arizona. We pack up the jeep and head out for the 12-hour drive to our friend’s cabin there, stopping in Moab to camp halfway. Sadly, the drive felt like a bit much for us this year and we’ve decided to stay in Denver. There will only be three of us at the dinner table so I’ve opted to make a roast chicken as the main dish. I’m OBSESSED with this recipe because it’s delicious, super simple and looks and tastes way more complicated than it is.
Are you having a small Thanksgiving? Consider swapping my chicken recipe for your turkey. I don’t think you’ll regret it one bit!
Ingredients:
3-4 lb Roasting chicken
½ lb Brussel sprouts, halved
2 Cups cauliflower florets
1 Large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 Purple onion, cut into large chunks
3 Carrots, cut into large chunks
7 Cloves of garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp melted coconut oil
1 Lemon, halved
¼ tsp salt
For the spice rub:
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp sea salt
Method:
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees
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Mix together salt and dried basil in a small bowl and set aside
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Place sweet potato, carrot, Brussel sprouts, onion and garlic cloves into a large dutch oven, toss with coconut oil and sprinkle with salt
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Pat chicken dry with paper towels or clean cloth
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Take ½ of the lemon and rub it all over the chicken skin
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Place both halves of the lemon in the cavity of the chicken
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Take spice rub and coat the bird in ALL OF IT (salt helps it retain moisture so don’t be shy), making sure you get in between the thighs, etc.
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Place bird on top of vegetables in the dutch oven, breast down
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Pop this in the oven for 30 minutes
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Once the timer goes off, lower the temperature to 375 and carefully flip the bird to make the breasts face up, cook for another 45 minutes
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Once an the timer goes off, place a meat thermometer between the thigh and the chicken breast to make sure it has reached 165 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, cut between the thigh and breast to see if juices run clear.
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If it’s not at 165 (or very close) put it back in. If it’s at a safe temperature, pull it out of the oven and let set for 20 minutes
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Carefully remove bird and place on a serving dish then nestle it in with the roasted veggies
Tah Dah! If you give this a try please let me know what you think. I have been working on this one once a week for the past couple months. I think I’ve perfected the recipe and I’d love to hear from those of you who give it a shot.
Lots of love,
Whitney
Thank you for this recipe! It sounds fantastic. I just need to buy a dutch oven.