Happy Earth Day and Happy Good Friday!
As part of my second in a series of posts on cooking with Organic Smart Chicken, I’ve decided to take on a fairly basic recipe, Roasted Lemon Chicken. Roasting a chicken might sound pretty easy, and it is, but surprisingly many of us don’t know the basic steps to achieving the perfect roasted chicken. As always when working with chicken, you need to know the proper temperature, length and steps to cooking it. You never want to risk your bird not being cooked all the way through.
So follow along with these easy steps to getting your perfectly roasted, juicy lemon chicken.
Roasted Lemon Chicken
Serves: 4 to 6
What you need:
- One whole organic Smart Chicken (3 to 4 pounds)
- sea salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 lemons, small enough to fit into the chicken cavity
My extra suggestions:
- potatoes, onions and/or squash to cut up and roast alongside the bird
- a dash of sage to sprinkle on top of the skin
How to make:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Be sure to wash the chicken thoroughly inside and out with cold water, pat dry. (Be sure to keep washing your hands after handling the bird as to not cross-contaminate anything else. Just a friendly tip to safe cooking)
Sprinkle a generous amount of sea salt and black pepper on the chicken, use your fingers to rub over the body and cavity. You can also add some sage at this time if desired.
Wash the lemons in cold water and soften them by rolling them back and forth with firm, downward pressure. Use a fork to puncture the lemons in at least 20 places. Then place both lemons in the bird’s cavity.
(I also suggest adding a little bit of sliced onion to the inside of the cavity for extra flavor)
Close up the opening with toothpicks or with trussing needle and string. Place the chicken in a roasting pan, breast down.
(I suggest lining the pan with foil for ease of cleaning later) spray pan or foil lightly with olive oil cooking spray.
Note: Per the Smart Chicken recipe, this is a self-basting chicken, no need for added oil or butter.
At this time I’d go ahead and add any extras you have planned. I added butternut squash, onion and red potatoes around the bird and sprinkled with salt, garlic and pepper.
Place the pan in the upper third of the oven. Cook for 30 minutes, turn the chicken over to have the breast face up. Cook for another 30 to 35 minutes.
Then turn the oven heat up to 400 degrees F, and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and don’t remove lemons until chicken is carved up.
Note: It’s best to calculate between 20 to 25 minutes total cooking time for each pound, and always look for an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
OK you’re all done and ready to enjoy a nice, tasty complete dinner.
Just look at this bird… the perfect golden brown! 🙂
(Recipe courtesy of Smart Chicken)
This recipe was part of the earth-friendly recipe Blog Hop going on at our friend FaveDiets Blog today. Be sure to check out the other earth and eco-friendly recipes that were shared or join the hop yourself!
For another earth-friendly and natural recipe idea, how about trying this Chicken Breasts Supreme, made with organic yogurt. It’s fantastic!
Hey remember to do something extra to help the environment today. Happy Earth Day!
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