Roast chicken a la Tulip Cottage

This is a great Sunday treat. Quick to prepare (if you don't count the cooking time) and goeas down well with everyone.

Ingredients (feeds 4):

1 large chicken, 1.8-2.2kg

olive oil

5-6 potatoes

4-5 sweet potatoes

5-6 parsnips

6-7 carrots

1 onion

1 red onion

3 celery stems

1 garlic bul

1 lemon (I used a leftover lime instead)

salt

pepper

dried parsley

 Peel, chop and wash the vegetables, except the garlic.

 Season the cavity with salt and pepper and stuff with celery, the 2 lemon halves, a few pieces of onion and 1-2 unpeeled garlic cloves.

 Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper and salt. Normally I don't even use added salt when cooking but in this recipe I'm always very enerous with it. Saw a friend preparing roast chicken this way and I'm always doing it like her since. Occasionally we deserve a little salt overdose...

 Place the chicken in a roasting tin and place the vegetables around. Toss the unpeeled garlic cloves among them. Place a garlic clove each under the wings and thighs. Sprinkle the whole lot with dried parsley and the herb of your choice. I added a little rosmary here.

 Cover the tin loosely with tinfoil. Place in a pre-heated oven (200 C) and cook for 1.5-2 hours.

 Take off the foil and put back in the oven. Cook uncovered for a further 30 mins so it gets nice brown all over.

Enjoy! (with a glass of white wine ;) )

Tip: The roasted garlic cloves are delicious spread over toast.