Roast Chicken

This is one of my favorite go-to recipes for busy days. One that we like so much that it's often the go-to recipe for lazy days or cold days, or in the summer, hot days when it's made on the grill -- roast chicken. You'll find a million ways to roast a chicken. I have my way and it's so simple that it's almost not worth a recipe. You can gussy it up with herbs or paprika or garlic if you like, but honestly, we prefer it plain.

One of the best things about it is that it takes one hour to roast, which means I can do something else for an hour. If I'm in the mood for potatoes, I stick them in the oven wrapped in foil and ignore them for an hour, too. This isn't fancy cooking by any stretch of the imagination, but it's always a favorite at my house -- and is good enough to serve to company, too.

I do use one slightly unusual item -- a vertical

chicken roaster.

This is the original Spanek Vertical Chicken Roaster. You plop the chicken on top of it, fold back the wings and set the whole thing in a pan to catch the drippings. Vertical roasters are not very expensive and they make a great chicken.

So here's the very fancy schmancy recipe.

Roast Chicken

1 small to medium chicken (3-4 pounds)

salt

pepper (optional)

Adjust oven rack to lowest level. Preheat oven to 425.

Rinse chicken. Plop onto vertical chicken roaster. Rub chicken with salt and pepper. Place in oven. Set timer for one hour.

Write mystery for one hour.

Eat.

Whew, that was hard work! I know it sounds so simple that it's hardly worth mentioning, but we all love easy and good, right? The skin is always crispy, the meat is always tender. The legs should move easily when it's taken out of the oven. If you pull one aside and see red inside, slide it back into the oven for a few minutes. This happens sometimes if the chicken wasn't totally thawed or if it's on the large side. One hour is usually perfect timing.

Good news! The leftovers are wonderful for sandwiches or salad the next day. And when you think that poor old chicken has nothing left to give, pop all those bones (yes, the whole thing) into a stock pot and make soup with it!