Roasted Chicken With Carrots and Parsnips- The in-laws are coming

           When was the last time you made something with parsnips? I wondered why they even sell them in the grocery stores...they are the best kept secret when it comes to roots! On vacation we stayed in DC with dear friends and little did we know they are marvelous chefs as well. They shared this delicious recipe with us and I had to try it myself!

There were no exact measurements so I really just eyeballed it. I used a small organic whole chicken from Sam's Club and 2 large carrots and 2 large parsnips.

Here are the directions-

This is roughly what we did. Massage chicken with great care - salt/pepper/oil/ garlic, squeeze of lemon and stuff lemon and garlic into cavity. As much in advance as possible. 

For roots (e.g. parsnips), cut into pieces of desired size, rub or toss in oil, season to taste. (We used salt pepper and thyme). 

Bake 25 mins at  425 should do for them..(I baked mine at 385 since my oven is hotter than normal.) 

After I placed it in the oven, I learned I was supposed to cook the vegetables with the chicken

Super essential step is of course the gravy - using the juices from the beast and veg - extracting a bit of oil (I'm usually lazy) and heating it on the hob with a glug of stock, a glug of cooking wine (if desired,), and working off those juicy bits at the bottom of the pan. 

And enjoy!