Perfect roast chicken

Our grand Sunday night dinner. Inspired by Ina Garten, very customizable.

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• Best for: dinner, serves 6 with leftovers

• Difficulty: medium

• Time: 30 minutes prep, 1 1/2 hours in oven

• If you like this, try... sweet-and-sour chicken thighs with carrots

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We've been having this almost every Sunday night the past few weeks. My family makes it together: me chopping the vegetables, my parents liberating the chicken of its vital organs, my brother bathing it in butter. We add more of the vegetables we like (green onions were a wonderful last-minute addition by my Dad) and lots of garlic. I can't even say how good this chicken is. It's very simple, but the flavor is incredible. There couldn't be a better meal.

Ingredients

1 5-6 pound roasting chicken

kosher salt

ground black pepper

1 large bunch fresh thyme

1 lemon, halved

1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 red or yellow onion, thickly sliced

vegetables of choice: carrots and baby potatoes are fantastic

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First...

Preheat oven to 425.

Chop your vegetables and add to a large roasting pan or ceramic baking dish, putting aside the onions.

Then...

Remove chicken giblets. Rinse it inside and out. Remove any excess fat and pat the outside dry.

Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.

Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both lemon halves, and all the garlic. Nestle in vegetables.

Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper.

Tie legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Scatter the onion slices around the chicken.

Then...

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. (We put the oven on convection. I'm not sure about the difference in taste, but my Dad says it's there.)

Remove to a platter and cover with foil. Let sit for 15-20 minutes before serving.