Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

After talking recipes with a friend, I felt inspired to try my hand at roasting a WHOLE chicken. It turned out great! I stuffed the bird with some wonderful aromatics to add great flavor and scent.  I roasted veggies as a side dish in the same pan, easy and delicious. As an added bonus, you can use the left over meat and carcass to make homemade Chicken Soup the next day.

Recipe: (serve 4)
Ingredients:
1 (5 pound) whole roasting chicken
ground black pepper
sea salt (optional)
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
7-8 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 small yellow onion, quartered
1 lemon, halved
3 cloves of garlic, cut in half
1 pound organic carrots, cut into chunks
1 pound small red potatoes, quartered
1 yellow onion, thickly sliced
2-3 Zucchini squash, cut into 2-inch chunks
Olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425'F. Prepare the chicken by removing giblets, rinsing and patting dry.
Stuff the cavity of the bird with the aromatics; the rosemary, 1 quartered onion, lemon halves and garlic pieces. Drizzle olive oil over the bird and sprinkle it fresh ground pepper and Italian Seasoning.

2. Arrange chopped vegetables in a large roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and pepper. Set the whole chicken on top of the bed of veggies. Go ahead and try other vegetables here too, parsnips, fennel, celery, mushrooms, zucchini, etc. {TIP} if you want to add a more delicate veggie such as zucchini, wait and add them when you have about 20 minutes of baking time left so they aren't overcooked.

3. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170-180'F at it's thickest part and the juices run clear. Remove from the oven and tent with foil to keep warm.
4. Remove the aromatics from inside the bird. Slice the chicken and serve with the vegetables. Your whole dinner is in one pan, or add a fresh green salad to go along side. Pick the carcass clean of meat and save in the fridge for later use. Also, save the carcass in a resealable plastic bag in the fridge. Stay tuned...tomorrow we'll make "Next Day Homemade Chicken Soup".