Double Roast Chicken

Ingredients

6 medium onions, peeled and quartered

6 beets, peeled and quartered

8 new red and white potatoes, halved

8 carrots, peeled

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 acorn squash, sliced into 1-inch rounds and halved

2 chickens (4 to 5 pounds each), giblets removed, rinsed and dried

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons, quartered

8 sprigs fresh thyme

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange about half of each of the vegetables in a 12-by-18-inch roasting pan. Place chickens over vegetables in pan; sprinkle cavities with salt and pepper. Fill each cavity with onion, lemon, and thyme. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Arrange remaining vegetables around chickens.

Spread butter over chickens; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until the skin is deep golden and crisp and the juices run clear when the skin is pierced, tossing the vegetables occasionally as they cook, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the breast should read 180 degrees. Remove from oven, and serve.