Good Content from: Saucony Ambassador, Elyse Kopecky, 2x NY Times best-selling  cookbook author

Elyse’s Simple Thanksgiving Menu and Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe

For many of us Thanksgiving will look different this year. Likely you’ll have less friends and family gathered around your table. This doesn’t mean we need to give up the tradition of a fancy feast, but we can definitely simplify our holiday menus in 2020. That means we can spend less time cooking and more time running!

To celebrate a minimalistic approach to Thanksgiving, I’ve really paired back our menu. Our dinner will still be festive and fun, but I’m looking forward to having more time to trail run, play outside (pray for snow!), and relax (good book and cozy fire).

Here’s what’s will be on our table in 2020:

• Whole Roasted Chicken – Check out Elyse’s easy recipe below
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts – Recipe on page 158 in Run Fast. Eat Slow.
• Mashed Yams with Sage Brown Butter – Recipe on page 165 in Run Fast. Eat Slow.
• Seasonal salad with greens, beets, apples, fennel, feta, and pecans
• Ginger Molasses Cookies – Recipe on page 208 in Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow.

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season!

Simple Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe

Serves 5

This recipe will result in the juiciest and most flavorful chicken with crispy skin. Once you get in the habit of roasting your own whole bird, you’ll never go back to store-bought rotisserie chicken. In the winter, I roast a chicken nearly every week as part of my meal prep routine because it provides delicious protein for multiple meals. Don’t toss the bones! Stash them in a bag in the freezer until you have time to make a nourishing bone broth.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (about 6 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried poultry seasoning blend (oregano, thyme, sage)
• 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small yellow onion, cut into wedges
• 1⁄2 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F. Remove the giblets from the cavity of the chicken (discard or save for stock) and place the chicken on a roasting pan. Pat dry with a paper towel.
• In a small bowl, create a run by combining the oil, dried herbs, salt, and pepper.
• Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the onion and lemon.
• Cover the chicken on all sides and crevices with the herb rub and place breast side up in the roasting pan. Fold the wing tips underneath the chicken.
• Cook until a thermometer inserted in the inner thigh registers 165°F and the juices run clear, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. For best results, do not open the oven to check on the chicken until the hour mark.
 An 8-pound chicken will take longer, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Let rest for 20 minutes before carving.