Garlic-Themed Supper

It just worked out that I went full-blown garlic for Saturday night supper.  My garlic press and I are BFF, so I'm down for using it every time I can remember to buy a head of garlic.

Herb-Roasted Chicken
(BHG (red plaid) cookbook)

3-3 1/2 pound whole broiler-fryer chicken (mine was 4.5 pounds...it didn't seem to bother the recipe that the chicken had a weight problem)
2 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried basil, crushed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground sage
1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/4 tsp. lemon-pepper seasoning or black pepper
(Note:  my sage was already ground.  I didn't bother crushing the other spices.  I chose the black pepper for this chicken.)

Take out all the bits inside your chicken that are bagged (or loose, maybe, if you buy those free-range style chickens) and wash and pat dry your future supper.  BHG recommended tying the legs to the tail and skewering the neck skin of the chicken to the back.  No thanks.  I did twist the wing tips under the back (I think...I was channeling Rotisserie Chicken, so I just made it look like it does when I buy them at Hannaford), but I knew my dinner wasn't going anywhere.  Place the chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.  (I have my dad's chicken rack.  I don't know if he knows.  I'm sure he thinks someone stole it.)  I also chose to line my cookie sheet with foil to try to help with clean up.  Brush the chicken with the melted butter and rub the garlic over the chicken.
In a small bowl, stir together all the spices and rub onto chicken.  BHG says, if desired, insert a meat thermometer (WEDDING PRESENT) into center of an inside thigh muscle.  Desire it.  Desire it so much.
Roast, uncovered, in a 375 oven for 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours or until the drumsticks move easily in their sockets and chicken is no longer pink (180 F).  Let the chicken stand 10 minutes before carving.

We had garlic smashed potatoes (2 whole cloves of garlic go into your unpeeled red potatoes while they're cooking.  They'll mash away, mash away, mash away all!)  And I've forgone the way of mashing anyhow, thanks to my Miss Amber, and use my hand mixer to get my potatoes all delicious.

We also had garlic and lemon sauteed green beans.  I trimmed a pound of fresh green beans and added them to a non-stick skillet that had a drizzle of olive oil and minced garlic (I had let the garlic cook for a few minutes before I tossed them in) and cooked 10-15 minutes till they were just right for us.  I drizzled lemon juice in after I took them off the stove.

Easy and tasty meal, especially given the junky weather Saturday evening.  Andrew said he could smell the chicken from the garage, and he was on the lookout for neighbors who might be headed to our house to eat.