Lemon Roasted Chicken with Warm Bell Pepper Salad

Yesterday, I visited our local Farmer's Market. My market finds: a whole chicken, yellow squash, bell pepper, bib lettuce, nectarines, wildflower honey, and kettle corn. Score! Supporting our local farmers and entrepreneurs is part of the American Dream and we need to help keep that dream alive!

Using my market finds, I decided to make a Lemon Roasted Chicken with Summer Squash Warm Red Bell Pepper Salad. Ok, so I had planned to make a Summer Squash side dish. Fail! Right as the chicken was finishing up and about to rest, I began slicing the squash... OH NO! They were completely dry inside. Agh, are you kidding me?! My squash from the Farmer's Market was not fresh! I was devastated.

Left scrambling and trying to figure out what to do instead, I let instinct kick in. I still had the bell pepper and bib lettuce from the Farmer's Market and decided to make a warm balsamic dressing for a salad. I rescued my dinner, and pulled together a fantastic side salad with zero time left on the clock. Phew, that was close!

Recipe continued after the jump...

Ingredients:

Roasted Chicken -

A whole chicken (mine is 4.75 LBS)

2 whole lemons

3 Tbs olive oil

2 tsp ground sage

1 tsp cracked pepper

1 tsp salt

Side Salad -

A small head of bib lettuce

1 medium red bell pepper

1 clove of garlic

1 Tbs dried parsley

1 tsp cracked pepper

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

Lemon Roasted Chicken (Tips below for prepping your chicken.)

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Thoroughly clean your chicken and pat dry with a kitchen towel.

3. Mix together 2 Tbs olive oil, 2 tsp sage, 1 tsp each of salt & pepper. Rub the mix all over the bird to coat the skin.

4. Rinse and dry your lemons. Roll the lemons on the counter applying light pressure to loosen the pulp and make them juicy. Puncture the lemons through the rind, about 10 times each, and stuff the whole lemons into the cavity of the bird.

5. Set the bird, breast side up in a roasting dish and loosely cover with foil to keep the chicken from drying out.

6. Bake. My chicken needs to bake for about 2½ hours because the lemons filled the cavity.

7. At the one hour mark, pull the chicken out of the oven and close the door to keep in the heat. Baste the bird using the juice at the bottom of the pan. Return to the oven to continue roasting.

8. Repeat and baste again at the 1½ and 2 hour marks (about every 30 minutes.) Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes of roasting to help crisp the skin.

9. When finished, the chicken should have an internal temperature of 180°. Remove from the oven and pull out the lemons from the cavity. Let the chicken rest for about 10-15 minutes before carving.

Warm Red Bell Pepper Salad (With about 5 minutes left on the chicken timer, start your salad. You'll be finishing while your chicken is resting.)

10. Rinse and dry your lettuce leaves. The bib lettuce has small leaves, so I left them whole and piled them onto the plate.

11. Chop your bell pepper and mince your garlic.

12. In a small skillet, add 1 tsp olive oil and toss in your bell pepper, garlic, and 1 Tbs parsley. Sauté for about 5 minutes until garlic is golden brown and bell pepper is soft.

13. Mix in ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar, and 1 tsp cracked pepper. Let simmer and reduce about 3 minutes.

14. Add in ¼ cup of olive oil and continue to simmer about 3 minutes.

15. Spoon and drizzle the bell pepper balsamic dressing over your lettuce.

Carve your chicken and serve with your Red Bell Pepper salad.

This chicken was so tender! The wings came right off as I was taking the chicken out of my dish. The meat was very tasty with just a subtle hint of lemon. And I was so happy that my last minute side salad turned out. The red bell pepper was sweet from cooking, and the warm balsamic dressing was a perfect touch. Such a yummy summer meal! Enjoy!

Tip 1 - Cleaning your chicken:

Check the cavity of the chicken and pull out the neck or any giblets that the butcher may have stuffed in there. You also need to check to see whether the kidneys have been removed. The kidneys are located in the tail end of the bird, in the abdominal cavity and they are a dark red color. If the kidneys are still in place, they can easily be removed by using your fingers.

The chicken should be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed under a cold running tap. Make sure to rinse the cavity of the bird as well. Pat dry with a clean kitchen towel which will help the bird brown nicely and make a crispy skin.

Tip 2 - Oven Roasting your chicken:

Roasting times will vary depending on the size of your bird. Make sure you have a meat thermometer. When the chicken is done, the meat thermometer will have recorded a temperature of 180ºF.

Here's a roasting guide I found online for a stuffed chicken at 375ºF:

2½ – 3 lbs = 1½ – 2 hrs

3½ – 4 lbs = 1¾ – 2¼ hrs

4½ – 5 lbs = 2 – 2 ½ hrs

5 – 6 lbs = 2¼ – 2¾ hrs