Culinary Guides

Roasting a whole chicken is one of the easiest ways to put a real dinner on the table with little effort. This one gets a warm Moroccan-style rub of paprika, ras el hanout, lemon, and garlic, with sweet carrots roasting in the drippings alongside. It is a one-pan meal that fills the house with a good smell and mostly cooks itself.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to drizzle the carrots
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon ras el hanout (see note)
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 whole free-range chicken, about 4 1/2 to 5 pounds
• 2 small whole lemons, pierced all over with a fork
• 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1 small bunch carrots, about 5 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400F (200C).
2. In a small food processor or blender, blend the 3 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, ras el hanout, dried mint, kosher salt, grated lemon peel, black pepper, and the peeled garlic clove into a smooth paste.
3. Remove the neck, giblets, and excess fat from the chicken, rinse it inside and out, and pat dry. Rub about a third of the paste into the cavities, then rub the rest all over the bird and under the skin, working gently so you do not tear it. Stuff the cavity with the pierced lemons and unpeeled garlic.
4. Toss the carrot pieces with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and scatter them around the chicken in a deep roasting pan or cast iron skillet.
5. Roast for 45 minutes to crisp the skin. Tent the pan loosely with foil and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of a thigh reads 170F (77C), about 45 to 50 minutes longer.
6. Let the chicken rest 10 minutes so the juices settle, then carve and serve with the roasted carrots.

Grower's tip: The rub calls for dried mint, and mint is one of the easiest herbs to keep going, so easy it will take over a bed if you let it. Grow it in a pot or a sunken container, snip sprigs just before it flowers when the oils are strongest, and hang them to dry for rubs like this one.

Ras el hanout is a Moroccan spice blend of cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger, and turmeric; buy it or mix your own. Parsnips or potatoes are easy to add to the pan, and leftover chicken is great in sandwiches, salads, or soup for the rest of the week.

The vegetables and the herbs are the part you can grow. Sow a bed of carrots to roast in the pan drippings, keep a pot of mint for the rub, and tuck in some parsnips to roast alongside.