grape roasted chicken

I'd been craving roasted chicken for days and finally bought a roaster along with some herbs to throw in the oven. I also picked up some delicious champagne grapes, and remembered having seen a roasted chicken and grapes recipe somewhere along the way. We made a couple of adjustments to the recipe I found and it turned out better than we thought possible. Goes especially well with purple mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
1 pound assorted seedless grapes (tiny grapes especially good)
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme plus 6 large sprigs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 half lemon, quartered
1 4-to 4 1/2-pound chicken, excess fat removed from cavity

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove grapes from stems. Gently toss grapes, garlic cloves, chopped thyme, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in large bowl to coat. Rub chicken with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil; sprinkle inside and out with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place thyme sprigs, a handful or grapes and lemon quarters in cavity. Place chicken in large roasting pan; arrange grape mixture around chicken. Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken thigh registers 165°F and grapes are shriveled, about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Transfer chicken to platter; let rest 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, arrange grapes and garlic around chicken. Transfer pan juices to small pitcher; spoon fat from surface of juices and discard. Serve chicken with pan juices alongside.

Adapted from Epicurious.com