A whole chicken costs considerably less per kilo than the same bird sold in pieces, and it contains three dinners rather than one. The only thing standing between most people and that is the belief that taking a chicken apart requires skill. It does not; it requires a knife and five minutes.
Roast it plainly
Salt it well, inside and out, ideally an hour ahead or the night before. Oil, a hot oven, and a tray with something underneath it — potatoes, onion halves, bread — so the fat and juices land on food rather than on metal. Roast until the juices at the thigh run clear, then rest it for fifteen minutes before touching it. The resting matters more than the seasoning.
Night one: eat the legs
The legs and thighs are the best part and they dry out worst when reheated, so eat them first, on the night of roasting, with whatever roasted beneath the bird. Carve at the table rather than in the kitchen. It is faster and less is left behind on the bones.
Night two: the breast, shredded not sliced
Cold breast meat sliced thickly is dry; the same meat pulled into shreds is not. Shred it into a bowl and mix it with something wet before it goes anywhere near heat: yoghurt and lemon, mayonnaise and mustard, a warm sauce. From there it is a sandwich filling, a salad, a wrap, a bowl with rice, or stirred into pasta at the last second. Never reheat it in a pan by itself.
Night three: the carcass
Everything left — bones, skin, the wing tips, the scraps you cannot get off with a knife — goes into a pot with water, an onion, a carrot and a bay leaf and simmers gently for a few hours. That gives two litres of stock and, once strained, a surprising amount of meat you can pick from the bones. Stock plus that meat plus noodles or rice is the third dinner, and it is often the best one.
Taking it apart, briefly
Pull the leg away from the body and cut through the skin where it stretches; the joint pops and separates with almost no force. Do the same on the other side. Then run a knife down either side of the breastbone and follow the ribcage down. What is left is the carcass, which is the part you were about to throw away and the part that makes the third meal.
Roast it once, eat the legs hot, shred the breast into something wet, and simmer the bones. One bird, three dinners, and about two litres of stock that cost nothing.