One night I was bored out of my mind so at 9:30 P.M. I thought: I AM hungry and I DO have a thawed 3 pound bird…lets make a roast bird!  Of course by the time the bird was done cooking, I dined at 11:45 at night, but it was a glorious late night dinner and helped me sleep very well.

Ingredients

• 1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken
• 1 Cup sunflower oil
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• zest of 2 lemons
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 large lemons, halved
• 1 head of garlic, cut in half
• 1 (8oz) package baby carrots
• 3-4  parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 – 1.5 inch long X 1/2 inch thick pieces
• 4-5 medium red potatoes, washed and quartered
• 1 onion cut into eighths

• 2 Teaspoon chopped fresh thymePreparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat.
3. Combine the sunflower oil and the next 5 ingredients (oregano through black pepper). Rub mixture under loosened skin; rub over breast and drumsticks as well as the inside cavity. Stuff cavity with one of the halves of garlic, 1 halved lemon, a sprig of thyme and a sprig of oregano. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under chicken.  Place the chicken, breast side up, on a broiler pan.
4. In a large bowl, combine carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions, and 2 teaspoons chopped thyme with oil; season with salt and pepper. Scatter vegetables, the other half garlic head, and the two halved lemons around chicken, squeeze the juice of one lemon over chicken and vegetables.
5. Bake at 450° for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 355° (do not remove chicken from oven), and bake for an additional 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and juices run clear when pierced between breast and leg (an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh, avoiding bone, should read 165 degrees). (Cover the chicken loosely with foil if it gets too brown.) Remove the chicken from the oven.
6. Cover the chicken loosely with foil, and let stand for 10 minutes.  Serve with vegetables, and garnish with thyme, if desired.