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°F. 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 325F 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