Bam! Roasted!

Lemon-Garlic Roasted Chicken


3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley or 1 1/2 Tbsp. dried parsley
2 Tbsp. butter at room temperature
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 (4 lb.) whole chicken


Combine first seven ingredients in a small bowl.  
Wash chicken and pat dry with paper towels.  Starting at the neck, reach between skin and meat, and loosen skin from breast and drumsticks.  You'll really have to reach, so be sure that jewelry and watches are off.  Mentally prepare yourself.  This part is gross but ... well ... just get over it.
Rub half of butter mixture evenly under skin.  Spread remaining half of butter mixture over chicken.  Place the chicken on a lightly greased rack in a roasting pan (I used a very large oval dutch oven).
Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 35-45 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 180 degrees when inserted into the thigh.  When I reduced the heat, I also put the lid on the dutch oven, but you could also put foil over the chicken to prevent over-browning of the skin.
Remove the chicken to a serving plate and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.  Reserve pan drippings for other use (see below).


Hmmm.  Roasted chicken.  This is a tasty recipe.  Well, OK, so I believe that anything that involves butter, salt, olive oil, and lemon juice is tasty.  I've not been disappointed yet, so I'll keep that assumption.
Things are still busy at work and for life in general, so I'm trying to maximize kitchen time by preparing a few things that can be versatile during the week.  So, I'll debone the chicken and use it all week.  Here goes a possible week-night menu using said roasted chicken:


Sunday night: homemade pizza with olive oil, fresh basil, shredded chicken, and parmesan
Monday night: rice cooked in a mixture of water and pan drippings, green beans, and chicken
Tuesday night: chicken-vegetable soup a la crock pot
Wednesday night: burritos (leftover rice, beans, chicken, tomatoes, and avocado)
Thursday night: chicken salad sandwiches
Friday night: nachos (leftover rice (again!), beans (again!!), chicken, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and plenty of cheddar cheese baked on tortilla chips for 15 minutes at 350 degrees)
Saturday night: quesadillas


OK.  Yes.  We eat Mexican at least three nights a week.  So good and so easy to prepare ... nothing like food-within-12-minutes-of-getting-home-from-work, right?