What you'll need

Serves 3-4

• 1 large roasting chicken
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 cup shredded lemon rind
• 3 large lemons, halved
• Fresh rosemary sprigs (optional)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice

The easy bit

1. Preheat oven to 230°C.
2. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry. Trim excess fat. Starting at the neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat.
3. Combine the rosemary, thyme, garlic and seasoning. Rub mixture under loosened skin and rub over breast and drumsticks.
4. Lift wing tips up and over back, tuck under chicken. Place chicken (breast side up) on a baking pan. Microwave the lemon to warm. Pierce the chicken skin several times with a meat fork. Stuff 2 half lemons inside chicken cavity. Place the other lemons around chicken in the pan.
5. Mix lemon rind in lemon juice and pour over chicken. Bake at 230°C for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C (do not remove chicken from the oven) and bake for an additional 1 hour. If the chicken gets too brown, cover it loosely with aluminium foil.
6. Remove chicken from the oven. Cover the chicken loosely with foil and let it stand for 10 minutes.
7. Garnish with rosemary if desired and serve with steamed vegetables and roast lemon.

Per serve:
Energy - 1150Kj
Protein - 25 grams
Carbs - 9 grams
Fibre - 3 grams