Easy Roast Chicken

Easy Roast Chicken
This is a delicious, inexpensive and healthy dinner, if you do not eat the skin! You can customize the flavors to suit you and your family. This has been a staple in our home since my husband and I first were married.

1 (4 lb) roasting chicken
2 fresh lemons or 1 lime and 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Mix together the salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Set mixture aside. Poke the lemons with a fork, about 5 times each. Rub the chicken skin and the cavity generously with the olive oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder mixture. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast chicken in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, breast side down. Decrease oven temperature to 325 and cook for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until the juices of the chicken run clear. Allow chicken to sit at least 15 minutes before carving.

Makes 2 to 4 servings