Lighten up a comfort food favorite with green olives. Learn how green olives provide bright and buttery flavor to a variety of dishes, including featured recipe Roast Chicken with Green Olives and Herb Sauce. This simple, weeknight recipe is bursting with flavor. Get expert tips on how to perfectly cook a roast chicken and make an easy pan sauce in one hour, using everyday pantry ingredients.

Roast Chicken with Green Olives and Herb Sauce

For Chicken:

1 lemon|
1 head of garlic|
1/4 cup clarified butter (ghee) or unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup warm water
1 3½–4 lb. whole chicken
1/2 cup pitted green Castelvetrano olives
Salt and black pepper

For Sauce:

Pan drippings, including roasted garlic and lemon
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1 Tbl. Cold butter
1/2 cup chopped fresh tarragon, parsley, and chives
Salt and black pepper as needed

Action - Roast Chicken:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut lemon into quarters. Cut 1 head of garlic in half crosswise. Melt butter or ghee in a small saucepan or microwave.
3. Remove giblets from bird and discard. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Season liberally all over with salt and pepper. Place one lemon quarter and 1/4 cup of olives into cavity of bird.
4. Place chicken breast-side up in a large oven-safe skillet. Arrange remaining lemon and olives around bird. Add garlic cut side down to pan.
5. Pour 1/4 cup warm water into pan.
6. Drizzle melted butter or ghee over chicken and move pan to oven.
7. Roast for 45 minutes, or until chicken is browned and cooked through. Remove chicken from pan and allow to rest 15 minutes before cutting.

Action - Sauce

1. Remove lemon, garlic, and olives from pan and reserve. Skim fat off surface of pan drippings.
2. Roughly chop roasted olives. Squeeze cloves from roasted garlic and mash with a fork to make a paste. Add olives and garlic paste to sauce pan. Squeeze roasted lemon juice into pan.
3. Stir to incorporate into pan drippings. If pan looks a little dry, add a few tablespoons of warm water and heat over medium. Add heavy cream, whisking constantly. Allow to simmer gently until slightly thickened.
4. Whisk in 1 Tbl. cold butter. Add 1/2 cup chopped herbs and stir. Taste, season with salt and pepper as needed.
5. Carve chicken. Serve with pan sauce.