Lemon & Garlic Roast Chicken with Rice Pilaf and Roasted Veggies

Nothing says Sunday to me more than a hearty, gut busting family dinner.  If you ask my husband the same question, he'd most like answer watching football while grading papers. In any case, we got the best of both worlds by enjoying this roasted chicken (I used Ina Garten's recipe), along with some yummy roasted vegetables and Rice Pilaf (my mother in law's recipe). It was over two hours of cooking and ten minutes of eating. I have never seen food fly so fast off the table. I highly recommend this recipe for any gathering. It's sure to please even the finickiest of eaters.
Ina Garten's Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken
Ingredients

1 (5 to 6-pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme
4 lemons
3 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 pound sliced bacon
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, reserving enough thyme to garnish the chicken dish, 1 lemon, halved, and 2 halves of the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Cut 2 of the lemons in quarters and scatter the quarters and remaining garlic around the chicken. Lay the bacon slices over the chicken to cover. Roast the chicken for 1 hour. Remove the bacon slices from the top of the chicken and set aside. Continue roasting the chicken for an additional 1/2 hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the gravy. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the bottom of the pan. Add the wine and chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until reduced by half.
Slice the chicken on a platter. Garnish the chicken platter with the bacon slices, roasted garlic, reserved thyme and 1 lemon, sliced. Serve with the gravy.

Mimi's Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
1 cup rice,uncooked
1/2 cup butter
2 TBSP onion powder
1 can (10 3/4 oz) beef broth(I used chicken)
1 can water
1/4 TSP Majoram
1/4 TSP ground Sage
1/4 TSP Rosemary

Directions
Melt butter and add to casserole dish.Mix herbs and ice with butter and add to dish. Add broth and water and bake at 350 for 1 hour, uncovered. Cover with foil to keep warm until served.

You can use my recipe for  Roasted Veggies  here.I used about 15 baby carrots, cut and 1/4 butternut squash, 2 garlic cloves and 1/4 of white onion, roughly cut.