I love roast chicken.  It’s simple and requires minimal effort.  So I try to remember that and roast them occassionally.  This want to roast chickens is encouraged by my mom who manages to give me at least one bird everytime I see her, to be fair she has connections that leave me with a mighty tasty and local bird.

This is an especially simplistic chicken to cook and I love the method of cutting it down the breastbone and splaying it open.  I won’t lie I was entertained by this method simply becasue I learned of it as spatchcocking the chicken and it was a phrase that amused me greatly.  There’s something very fantastic and decadent about this chicken – but it’s neither, I didn’t even rub butter on this little bird before roasting it!  I roasted this chicken because a: I had it and it needed to be used up and b: I had a LOT of POMwonderful juice in my fridge (not that I’m complaining, that stuff is delicious).  I loved it.  BF loved it; which is an accomplishment as he so rarely likes chicken and, in general, thinks it’s boring.  This was a great mid week dinner paired with a simple side salad – seriously the simplest, some fresh greens (from Kimball Farms, keepin’ it local here) with vinaigrette on it.  But it felt decadent.

Since there’s only BF and I our meals are typically very small with few leftovers (well I aim for that, most of the time) and roasting a whole chicken always leaves the “but what about the leftovers” question dangling; but a pomegrante glazed chicken was just too tempting an idea to pass up.  We probably would have sipped the pan juices if we’d had the space after the actual food, they were that good.  And the leftovers made a fantastic chicken salad the next evening.

Pomegrante-Lime Roast Chicken
Note:  This is an entirely original recipe from ME!  But I encourage you to make it for yourself, maybe with lemon, or some thyme.

1-8oz bottle POMwonderful, pomegranate juice
1 Lime, cut in half
1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
1- 4-5 lb roasting chicken, gizzards removed and cut down the breatbone

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a roasting pan, I like the oval ceramic dish I have from Ikea but anything that’s about 2″ deep and will hold your spatchcocked chicken will work a 13″x9″ pan should do it, splay your chicken out rib side down, so all the skin is facing up.  Rub the chicken all over the skin with 1/2 of the lime, making sure to squeeze all the juice out onto the bird.  Cut the second half of the lime into rounds that look like wheels (see my picture) about 1/4″ thick and place them all over the bird.  Pour the pomegranate juice on the chicken evenly making sure to coat everything with the juice.  Sprinkle the whole thing with salt.  Roast for 20-25 minutes per pound until the juices run clear, basting once about half way through with the pan juices.  When it’s fully cooked the chicken will smell delicious and doesn’t need any work, aside from eating.  Serve with the pan juices and a side salad of greens you got at the farmer’s market.