Fall is wonderful for cooking and eating root vegetables. To celebrate the season, I created a recipe for lemon herb chicken with root vegetables. It combines chicken roasted in a pan along with a savory mixture of lemon, herbs, and colorful root vegetables.
Enjoy this recipe!
Lemon Herb Chicken with Root Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 lemon 1/2 the lemon and cut one-half into 3 slices. Then cut the slices in 1/2. Squeeze the juice of the remaining half and save.
- 3-3 1/2 lb Roasting chicken
- 12 leaves sage fresh
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley leaves with stems removed
- salt and pepper to taste freshly ground to taste
- 2 large thyme sprigs fresh
- 3 cloves garlic peeled
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup Brussels Sprouts fresh
- 2 medium Golden Beets can also use red beets
- 2 medium turnips peeled and cut into 8ths
- 4-5 large shallots peeled and split lengthwise in half
- 1 cup baby carrots
- 1 butternut squash peeled and chopped into cubes
- 1 cup Chicken broth low sodium
- 1/2 cup walnuts lightly toasted 1/2’s
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Loosen the breast and thigh skin of the chicken carefully (don’t tear) Stuff under the skin with lemon slices, 8 of the sage leaves, and the parsley.
- Season the cavity with salt and pepper Stuff the cavity with the remaining lemon half, 3 sage leaves, 1 thyme sprig, and 2 peeled garlic cloves.
- Rub 1 Tbsp of the olive oil over the chicken and season it with salt and pepper to taste. Tie the legs together with kitchen string.
- Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with the remaining 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Set the chicken in the pan, breast-side down, and roast for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan of boiling water, blanch the Brussels Sprouts for 2 minutes. Drain and let cool slightly. Then cut in half.
- Add the Brussels Sprouts to the roasting pan along with the beets, turnips, shallots, carrots, squash, remaining sage leaf, thyme sprig, garlic clove and season with salt and pepper. Roast with the chicken and vegetables for 1 hour.
- Add 3/4 cup of the chicken broth to the pan and roast the chicken and vegetables for 20 minutes longer.
- Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Turn the chicken breast side up and baste with the pan juices. Continue roasting for about 10-20 minutes longer. (until the bird is browned and temperature in the thickest part of the thigh is 165 degrees.)
- Transfer the chicken to a platter and cover it loosely with foil.
- Continue roasting the vegetables for another 10 minutes or until tender and slightly browned.
- Transfer the vegetables to the platter and cover loosely with foil.
- Set the roasting pan on a burner and bring the pan juices to a boil. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken broth and the reserved lemon juice and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and swirl in the butter.
- Season the jus with salt and pepper and then transfer to a warmed gravy boat.
- Sprinkle the walnuts over the chicken and vegetables and serve with the jus.
You may also enjoy my recipe for Herb Roasted Root Vegetables. (all vegetarian)
I’m a big fan of golden beets. Red beets are wonderful too, but messy. Every time I touch them I get stains all over everything, especially myself. Golden beets are sweeter and easier to deal with. I roast the chicken slowly at first so it will be juicy and tender when done.
Lemon herb chicken with root vegetables is typical of French provincial cuisine. It’s a meal in a pot, fairly low in calories and nutrition-dense. If there are only 1 or 2 of you at home, the leftovers will last you for days.
What are your favorite root vegetables? Please leave a comment below and share.
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