There is almost nothing better than a great roast chicken; except of course, a shawarma spiced roast chicken. As a fan of high heat cooking, this recipe will give you a great blue print for any roast chicken you want to make. It will also give you a chicken that is both crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I’ve put the vegetable base as “optional” here; but, if you add it to the mix, you have a one dish meal.

Ingredients:
• 1 whole organic roasting chicken (4-5 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons or more of my chicken shawarma spice mix
• Salt to taste
• 1 lemon
• 1 head of garlic
• Pure olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter to place between the skin and the breast meat
• Optional: Course cut potatoes, carrots and onions that can be a bed underneath the chicken.
Add Garlic cloves if wanted.

Equipment:
• Roasting pan
• Baking rack if not adding vegetables
• Mixing bowl for vegetables

Procedure:
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees (450 if it is a convection oven)
• Clean chicken of giblets, neck, etc. and pat dry
• Dice potatoes, carrots, and onions into large 2 inch cubes. You want them on the larger size
to hold up to the long cooking time
• Take the softened butter and place it between the breast and the skin of the chicken (this
helps to keep the breast meat moist).
• Cut the lemon and the garlic in half and stuff them into the chicken carcass.
• Generously coat the chicken with olive oil, shawarma spice and salt.
• Coat the vegetables with olive oil, shawarma spice and salt.
• Place the vegetables in a pan and top them with the chicken
• Reduce temperature to 450 and place the chicken in the oven
• Cook for 1 to 1.5 hours until the juices run clear. Estimate 20 minutes per pound at this
temperature with an additional 10-20 minutes.
• If the skin starts to get too dark too fast, loosely cover it with tin foil.
• Allow the chicken to rest for 10-15 minutes outside of the oven before carving. This will
ensure that the juices are sealed and prevent it from being dry.