Roasted Chicken with Wild Rice and Spring Rolls

Now everyone has roasted a chicken at least once in there life, right?  Prior to being married, I probably roasted a chicken or two. Maybe. Boy did that all change. Over the last 8+ years ( I always have  to think about that)  I have probably roasted approximately 400 chickens. 
1 Week x 52 week in a year x 8 years=  416
 Boy does that make me feel bad for the chicken population. We don't do deli meat, so we use a chicken weekly for things like sandwiches, additions to Kehoe Burrito Bowl night, on top of salads; that kind of thing. 
Now I have never followed any chicken roasting instructions, I just went with it.  400 chickens later, I roast it the same way, every time and the results are flavorful, tender, and juicy.   

Look at all the juice in that dish

The Perfect Roasting Chicken
First I start with a young chicken about 3-4 lbs.  I remove any organs in the cavity.  Brian asked me to roast him the heart once.  I did,  but I threw it away before he could try to eat it.  ewww.    After removing the organs, I rinse the chicken off with cold water and pat it dry with paper towels.  I have my spices mixed together in a bowl and with my hands I rub the spices under the skin.  I get in every crack my hand will fit in, but concentrate on the meaty zones like the breasts, thighs and legs.  THAT IS IT.  Prep done.  I place the chicken breast down, cover with foil and put it in the oven at 400 degrees and cook until the thermometer reads 175 or more.  Yes, I know 165 is the safe minimum and some say cooking much beyond this temperature will dry out your chicken.  However, let me tell you, I have never, ever cooked a dry chicken.  Depending on the size of your chicken, it can roast anywhere from 45min -1 hr. Now once it is done, I usually leave it in the oven with the heat off and foil on until it cools.  It should still require oven mitts to remove. I feel this really lifts the meat off the bone and makes it much easier to remove.

My go to spice mixture:
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
fresh crushed black pepper

GO TO SPICE MIX FOR ROASTED CHICKEN

Bathed and patted dry

The meat is fall off the bone

  I paired the roasted chicken with filo dough spring rolls, mango, plum chutney and wild rice.  The filo dough was left over from a dessert I made one night when we had some company over and I wanted to use it before it dried out.  The spring rolls were, eh.  So I won't share the recipe.  Okay, I will if you ask but trust me, they were not worth the work.