Mmmm… doesn’t that picture just look delicious? Warm roasted chicken is great when the weather starts to get a little cooler. This recipe is really so simple. All it takes is one whole chicken and a handful of staple ingredients that you probably already have at home. You may be wondering, “Why cook your own chicken when you can get a delicious rotisserie chicken already cooked for you for five bucks?”

Have you ever eaten a rotisserie chicken from your grocery store where it is perfectly browned and kept nice and warm for you? They are delicious and the meat falls right off the bone! So yummy. Costco sells 60 MILLION roasted chickens a year at just $4.99 each! Their chickens are so popular, in fact, that they even have their own Facebook page! The problem with those tasty, inexpensive rotisserie chickens is that they are brined before reaching Costco stores in a saline solution to ensure their juiciness after cooking.  The brine gives them that great flavor, but it adds about 460 mg. sodium per 3-ounce serving. Bottom line: There is A LOT of sodium in a rotisserie chicken from a deli and by cooking your own chicken it puts you in control of how much sodium is added. So, for those of you who are trying to pay closer attention to your sodium intake, like me, here is how to make your own healthy garlic and rosemary chicken.

Here is what you need:

4 garlic cloves
1 lemon
1-1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp. olive oil
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
1 (3-1/2 lb.) chicken, giblets discarded

Here is what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray medium roasting pan with nonstick spray.

2. Mix together garlic, lemon zest and juice, rosemary, oil, salt, and pepper flakes in cup.

3. With fingers, gently loosen skin over breast and legs of chicken.

Rub garlic mixture over meat under skin and in cavity. (I just spooned the mixture onto the chicken and then used my hand to spread it around)

Tuck wing tips under and tie legs together with kitchen string. (I do not have kitchen string so I skipped this step.) Place chicken, breast side up, on prepared rack.

4. Roast chicken, basting occasionally with pan juices, until instant-read thermometer inserted into thigh (not touching bone) registers 165°F, about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Transfer chicken to cutting board and let stand 10 minutes; remove string. Cut chicken into 6 pieces. Remove skin before eating.