Agave, Lemon and Thyme Roasted Chicken

The theme for this week is use up my lemons before they go bad!  This actually is a really flavorful and nice change from a basic roast chicken.  Lemon, thyme and butter are a classic combo and the agave helps the skin brown and balances the acidity.  I served this with pureed cauliflower that mimicked mashed potatoes which my husband actually thought was pretty good and my daughter thought was good until I told her what it was.  She promptly spit it out.  She ate the chicken like it was going out of style so I will take what I can get!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (split in half for quicker roasting time if you so choose)

3 tbsp butter, melted

Zest of 1 lemon and juice of half

1 tbsp of agave nectar (or honey if that is what you have)

Leaves from 1 sprig of thyme (optional)

2 cups of chicken broth

Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 425.  Place the chicken in a roasting pan and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Put the chicken in the oven for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan or in the microwave.  Into the butter add the lemon zest and juice, thyme and agave and stir to combine.  Remove the partially cooked chicken from the oven and pour the butter lemon mixture over the skin, taking care to coat as much of the chicken skin as possible.  Turn the oven down to 400.  Bake the the chicken for 30 more minutes taking care not to let the skin burn until it has reached a temperature of at least 165.  Remove the chicken from the roasting pan and add the chicken broth in and stir.  Put the pan back into the oven and cook the sauce for 5 minutes.  Serve the chicken with the pan sauce.