Simple Roast Chicken

The internet is a wondrous place, full of more information that you could ever need about everything from Nazi hunters to forgotten informercials from the '90s. Needless to say, there are basically a million recipes for roast chicken, some of which are more intimidating than others, and even though my favorite website of all time recently explored the topic in depth, I lack dignity and self-respect, which is why I wanted to share my recipe for roast chicken too!

I'm guessing mine isn't very different from yours, but I do have a tiny variation that I think makes a huge difference: Orange.

Most of the roast chicken recipes I'm acquainted with call for lemon, but I find that the swap for orange keeps the brightness that lemon adds but swaps the sourness for sweetness, which is always better IMO! That, plus a generous dose of salt and a high temperature give this chicken incredible flavor and crispy skin without any butter. #paleo

I served it alongside some mashed sweet potatoes (or you could make this, which has quickly become my all-time most popular recipe thanks to this Buzzfeed shoutout--self promotion FTW!!!).

Simple Roast Chicken
Feeds 4 adults

• 4-5 lb organic, free-range whole chicken
• 6-7 springs thyme
• 1 orange
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• lots of kosher salt and pepper
• olive oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel. Drizzle about a tsp or two of olive oil all over chicken (top, bottom, and inside the cavity--you may need to remove the giblets, so do that first). Gently rub olive oil all over chicken.

3. Liberally sprinkle the entire chicken with salt (seriously, use a lot of salt; it's important for getting the right flavor). Make sure you get the cavity too! 

4. Sprinkle pepper everywhere you did with salt. You don't need as much pepper as salt, but don't be shy!

5. Slice the orange in half. Throw orange halves, garlic, and thyme into the cavity.

6. Place chicken on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. I like to put mine in breast-side down to allow the juices from the dark meat to drip to the white meat underneath, but you don't have to do that.

7. Roast chicken for an hour, then turn up oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Cook for another 30-60 minutes, or until thigh meat renders 165 degrees with a meat thermometer.

8. Remove from oven and allow to sit for about 15 minutes before carving.