Healthy Recipes from Our Favorite Celebrity Chefs

Tom Colicchio's Easy Roasted Chicken

"I like to brown the chicken before I roast it. Browning helps to get the cooking started and moves the juices toward the center of the bird."

Makes 4 servings.

Shopping List

FRESH: Chicken, rosemary, thyme

STAPLES: Coarse sea salt, ground black pepper, peanut oil, unsalted butter

Ingredients

1 2- to 3-1/2-pound free-range chicken

Coarse sea salt

Ground black pepper

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tablespoon peanut oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Rinse the chicken and dry with paper towels. Cut off the last joint of the wing; discard.
• Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper; place rosemary and thyme inside the cavity. Tie cavity closed with a piece of twine.
• Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat.
• Place chicken on its side in the skillet and brown, about 7 minutes.
• Turn and brown the other side, about 7 minutes.
• Place chicken breast side up and transfer skillet to oven. Roast for 20 minutes; baste with melted butter. Continue roasting, basting occasionally, until thigh juices run clear, about 30 minutes more.
• Remove chicken from oven and cover loosely with foil. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.
• Sprinkle with sea salt before serving.

Nutrition facts per serving: 403 calories, 37g protein, 0g carbohydrate, 27g fat (9g saturated), 0g fiber.

Recipe adapted from Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio. Clarkson/Potter Publishers, 2007.

Buy the book on Amazon.com: Think Life a Chef