A Zesty Chicken Dinner Brings Color To Your Plate And Palate

Fowl is fair--and fairly inexpensive--when you roast a whole chicken in herbs and oil.

(NAPSI)-The U.S. is wrestling with the worst food inflation in nearly 20 years. Combine that with high gas prices and you're talking about a budget buster.

But you can make a savory meal for a family of four and spend less than $10. The spectacular flavor in Herb Roasted Chicken comes from the blend of cooking oil and fresh herbs. (Fresh herbs are sold in individual, small packages near a grocer's fresh vegetables and can be used to create other meals later in the week.)

Vegetable (or canola) oil seals in moisture and keeps chicken and roasting vegetables crispy. The vegetables cook alongside the poultry, saving on cooking time and energy usage.

Herb Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

½ cup LouAna vegetable or canola oil, divided

1 (4-pound) whole roasting chicken

2 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh sage

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ small onion, peeled and cut into 4 wedges

8 ounces baby carrots, peeled or unpeeled

8 ounces red-skinned potatoes, quartered

8 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed

Preparation and Cooking:

Preheat oven to 450°.

Remove giblets and neck from chicken; freeze for future use. Combine and stir sage and ingredients through pepper. Measure out 2 teaspoons herb mixture and mix it with 1 ½ tablespoons oil. Starting with neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks with hands. Rub mixture under skin and over breast and drumsticks. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under. Rub 2 tablespoons oil over outside skin of chicken. Place chicken, breast side up, on a roasting pan rack. Roast at 450° for 20 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°.

Toss reserved herb mixture and remaining oil with onion, carrots and potatoes. Add vegetable mixture to roasting pan. Roast an additional 30 minutes at 350°, basting with pan juices after 20 minutes. Add green beans to pan; toss. Cook an additional 10 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 165°. Remove chicken from pan; let stand 15 minutes before carving.

Serves four people.

Visit www.louana.com for more recipes and cooking tips.

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