Make no mistake, this chicken really is one of the best recipes not just for weight loss but for Roast Chicken in general. The lovely thing about this dish is its simplicity. It draws inspiration from Jamie Oliver’s Recipes which by the way any of which can be adapted to suit most diets. You can do this for two or ten, you will just need a larger bird or two birds depending on how many people you need to feed and how big you oven is. Chicken is also a free no calorie counting ingredient (the skin is classed as a sin on some diets so if you eat it you may need to place points on it #weightwatchers) on many diets so you can impress you friends and be on plan with this little number.

Ingredients

1.3-1.5 Kg (roughly around 3lbs) Whole Free-Range Chicken

Low Calorie Spray

2 Cloves of Garlic

3 sprigs of Thyme (a 3/4 teaspoon of dry thyme is fine)

2 sprigs of Rosemary (a 3/4 teaspoon of dry rosemary is fine)

1 whole lemon

Pinch of Sea Salt (Optional)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7.
2. Pick the Rosemary and Thyme and finely chop them.
3. Halve the lemon and skin the garlic cloves. Prick cloves 2 or 3 times with a knife.
4. Spray a medium roasting tin with low calorie spray. Some chefs recommend using a hot roasting tray however I found using a cool tray with Low Calorie Sprays often works better as they don’t go sticky before you put the chicken on it.
5. Place the chicken in the centre of the tray.
6. Place half of the chopped herbs in the cavity of the chicken, if you don’t want to get your hands covered in chicken use teaspoon.
7. Place both of the cloves of garlic in the cavity. Use the teaspoon method if preferred.
8. Use one half of the Lemon to close the cavity ensuring that the cut end is inside the cavity and the skin side of the lemon faces out. The idea is for the lemon to keep the chicken moist from the inside. Place the other half of the lemon to one side (use in pre-boil stage of roast or baby potatoes…adds a totally different element to an already great dish)
9. Use a little more low calorie spray on the skin of the chicken and sprinkle the remainder of the herbs on top of the chicken. Try to get it covered evenly if you can. Now is the time to sprinkle the salt if you want however this is personal preference.
10. Lower your oven temperature to 180ºC/356ºF/gas 4.
11. Place the roasting tray in the centre of the oven and cook the chicken for roughly 1.5 Hours (90 min) or until golden in colour and is cooked through. The packaging it came in will normally give an indication of cooking time. If not you can base it on the following. Small Chicken 80 min, Medium Chicken 90 min, Large Chicken 100 min. Always ensure the meat is cooked before serving.
12. Once cooked remove from the oven.
13. Place chicken on board to rest for a few min before carving.
14. This really is one of the best roast chicken recipes and I cooked it at least once a month.

This really is one of the best recipes I have ever tried and its so easy, my family love it and so will you.

 

Featured Image Gabriel Garcia Marengo on Unsplash