Roast Chicken over Beets & Sweet Potatoes

Give Donna a big hug next time you see her, this was so yummy! She passed this recipe to me and said I had to try it, so I put it together last night and it was delicious!

What I love about roasting a chicken is it makes great leftovers and then you can use the carcass to make chicken stock for soups. (I put the whole thing in a big pot of water with some celery, onion, bay leaf, salt & pepper and bring to a boil. I skim off all the ucky stuff on top and then simmer for a few hours. Strain put in containers and keep in freezer for next time you need stock)

The red stuff is beet juice, not blood… 🙂

Roast Chicken over Beets & Sweet Potatoes

1 large chicken (I used a free range chicken from Justin Lingle-see contact info on 3/19 post)

4 sweet potatoes, sliced

2 beets, sliced

10 cloves of garlic, smashed under a metal spatula, skins on

1 sprig of rosemary

1 spring of thyme

Juice of 3 lemons (save 3 of the juiced lemon halves)

salt

pepper

olive oil

Heat oven to 425. Wash chicken inside and out, pat dry.

In a large bowl combine lemon juice, 3 cloves of garlic, rosemary, thyme and s&p.

Set chicken in a bowl and coat with lemon/herb mixture.

Slice sweet potatoes and beets.

Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a roasting pan, layer beets and sweet potatoes. Add remaining garlic cloves.

Stuff bird with the 3 lemon halves and herbs.

Place chicken on vegetables in roasting pan and top with remaining lemon/herb mixture.

Tuck wings under, tie legs together and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake 1.5 hours

Enjoy!