Instructions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Scatter the carrots, celery, and onion in a roasting pan. Place the halves of chicken, skin side up, on the vegetables. Randomly tuck 5 pieces of garlic under the skin on each half. Squeeze the lemon over the chicken. Dust with the tarragon, paprika, seasoned salt, and peppers.

Cover and put in the oven.

Make the stuffing while the chicken is cooking. Put the chicken stock in a small saucepan over the lowest heat.

Preheat a medium, heavy frying pan for about 1 minute over medium heat.

Spray it twice with the vegetable oil. Add the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and celery. Saute for 3 minutes. Add the wine and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, until the vegetables are limp. Remove the pan from the heat.

Combine the bread, apple, raisins, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, sage, and peppers in a large bowl and toss to mix. Add the warm chicken stock, the vegetable mixture, and the egg whites. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Pour the stuffing mixture into a casserole and cover.

When the chicken has cooked for 15 minutes, put the casserole of stuffing in the oven and bake alongside the chicken.

When the chicken has cooked 45 minutes, uncover, baste lightly with pan juices, and return the roasting pan to the oven uncovered. Now bake both for 15 minutes, or until the thigh juices of the chicken run clear. Total cooking time for the chicken is 1 hour; 45 minutes for the stuffing.

Remove the skin and carve the meat from the bones.

Classic fare for a Sunday afternoon gathering of family and friends, this updated rendition is considerably healthier than the traditional menu on which it is based. The stuffing is roasted on the side so as not to absorb fat from the cavity of the bird, the chicken is skinned before serving, and no oil or butter is used in preparing either.

To serve, twist about 2/3 of the inner leaves out of a head of purple flowering kale. Place the hollow shell in the center of a platter and fill it with the stuffing. Ring with the severed leaves to form a bed for the chicken. Garnish the platter with chopped yellow bell pepper.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.