Roasted Chicken & Veggies {in a bundt pan}

Becca here with another great way to cook a whole chicken.  I must confess to being a 'boneless/skinless chicken breasts' only kind of girl until the past year or so, when I discovered how easy it really is to cook a whole chicken and serve it, and how great the homemade chicken stock really is.  Plus, the cost benefits are amazing also; where I live, in small town Arkansas, I can get a antibiotic free and all of that junk free 'natural' whole chicken for $1.50 a pound, meaning that for $7 I can easily get enough meat for my family of five to have at two meals, plus by adding an onion & carrot or two, a whole gallon of amazing chicken stock!  I usually cook my chicken in the slow cooker, but loved the idea of roasting the vegetables along with the chicken, and had forgotten to start the chicken that morning anyway, when this post reminded me of an article I had seen in Real Simple also about using a bundt pan to get your chicken nice & roasted evenly all around.  I gave it a try, and we were more than pleased with the results!  My husband even said both the chicken and vegetables were cooked perfectly, the best kind of compliment!  If you don't have a bundt pan you can, of course, follow the same instructions using a 9x13 baking pan; the main benefit of the bundt pan is that the skin gets crispy all around.  Enjoy!

1 whole chicken (mine are usually right at or a little under 5 pounds, I prefer the larger ones)
2 pounds red potatoes, washed, and cut into 3/4" pieces
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2" pieces (really wide ones I sliced horizontally as well)
1 onion, peeled and cut into 1" pieces (I prefer purple onions)
2 Tablespoons olive oil (I use organic extra virgin olive oil)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 425.  Put your bundt pan on a baking sheet.  If the 'cone' part of your bundt pan is open (as mine was), cover it with foil. 

In a large bowl, combine cut potatoes, carrots, onion, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss well to combine.  Pour into the bottom of your bundt pan.

Remove the giblets from your chicken if they came tucked inside.  Invert chicken onto bundt pan (as pictured above) and season with salt & pepper.

Place baking sheet with bundt pan on it into the oven, with the rack in its lowest position.  Bake for 1 hour, or until a meat thermometer registers at 165.  Enjoy!