Creamy Coconut Lentils & Simple Roasted Chicken

    Dinner tonight was amazing.  I think it cost roughly 12$  that’s a bargain, considering i’ll get 2 weeknight dinners from this one meal.  I am using a trick that my friend Jill from @Feedtheswimmers told me a few weeks back in NYC.  Make sure your kiddos are really hungry at dinner.  No afterschool snacks and an slightly earlier dinner will have the whole family not only excited to eat dinner, but really grateful.  I was making the mistake of basically serving Noah a meal at 3:30 after school, then expecting him to eat a hearty dinner just an hour later.  His snacks are much smaller now and he’s eating dinner way better!  He loves these lentils and rice.  This meal is packed with protein and its extremely cost effective. 

    Buy your rice & beans in the bulk section of your grocery store, you will save lots of money and get really fresh food this way.  One cup of red lentils was only .60 cents!  I also don’t buy any rice that doesn’t have naturally occurring vitamins and minerals.  The brown basmati packs a whopping 8% iron per serving and is loaded with fiber.  Get your chicken in the oven then cook your rice then start your lentils. 

Creamy Coconut Lentils & Simple Roasted Chicken

Serve 4-6 & takes 45 minutes to 1 hour to prepare.

Lentils

1 cup red lentils

3 cups chicken stock

1 cup canned coconut milk

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic smashed

3 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tbsp. Red Indian style red curry paste

Salt & pepper to taste

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Fresh Basil/Lime/Cilantro/Pomegranate seeds for garnish

4 cups cooked brown rice (I used quick cooking basmati)

In a large sauté pan with a lid caramelize the onion & garlic in the curry paste, tomato paste, salt and pepper over medium heat.  Add 1 cup of stock and continue to cook for a minute or two to deglaze the pan.  Add lentils and the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer on medium, stirring often untold the lentils have softened and the mixture has thickened about 20 minutes.  Serve over rice and garnish with fresh herbs! 

Simple Roasted Chicken

1 young chicken roughly 2-3 pounds

2 tbsp. olive oil or butter

Salt & Pepper

Heat your oven to 475 degrees. Take a pair of sharp kitchen scissors and stand the chicken upright, cut down the center of the back bone, just to the right of the spine.  Cut down the other side of the spine to remove the backbone.  Flip the chicken over and press firmly onto a rimmed baking sheet to display it like a butterfly.  You may hear a crack, that’s ok!  Rub the chicken with butter or oil, then liberally salt and pepper it!  (1 tsp of kosher salt per pound.) Place the chicken in the oven for 20 minutes.  Lower the heat to 375 and bake for 35-45 more minutes or until the internal temperature of the thickest part is 165 degrees.  Serve alongside of your lentils & rice!