Spiced Chicken Lentil Casserole

One of my favorite ways to love my husband is to make him unique and flavorful meals every now and then—that is, besides basic dinners that we have when we’ve both had a long day. He definitely always eats dinner; don’t worry (like my mother does). The other day I felt like I had extra energy and creativity to make him a curry casserole dish. I love casseroles because they last more than one meal, and baking is significantly more healthy than frying. Since I’m a vegetarian, I made half the casserole with no chicken. You can double the chicken quantity and make the whole casserole an easy bake chicken casserole if you’d like!

I N G R E D I E N T S (for one casserole)

• 3 chicken breasts, washed and covered in tandoori rub
• Half a bag of spinach, washed
• Large onion, diced
• Can of tomato puree
• Rectangular casserole dish
• 1 pot for rice
• 1 pot for the lentils
• Small frying pan for cumin and veggies
• Large frying pan for chicken
• 2 cups almost fully cooked brown rice
• 2 cups uncooked red lentils
• 1/2 cup diced mushrooms
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 1 tsp each turmeric, pepper, chilli powder, tandoori powder
• 1 cup yogurt
• Pinch of cumin seeds
• A few pieces of thyme
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp salt

R E C I P E

1. Start with the lentils. Throw those into a pot with water. Bring to a boil (skim off any scum that rises to the top) and reduce to a simmer. Stir in the turmeric. Cover and leave to cook gently. Add a pinch of salt.
2. Prepare the brown rice simultaneously. If you don’t know how to prepare brown rice, you can look at this link or buy one of those “almost-ready” brown rice packs.
3. In a small frying pan, dry-fry the cumin seeds over medium heat until toasted and fragrant (no more than a couple of minutes). Remove from the pan and set to one side.
4. Drip some olive oil into a pan and bring it to medium-high heat. Pan sear the chicken breasts on both sides for two minutes each so that they are nice and crispy on the outside, sealing in all the juices. The chicken should be half-cooked at this point.
5. In the small frying pan, cook the chopped garlic and onions for five minutes.
6. Add in the mushrooms, 1/4 bag of spinach, pepper, chili powder, and tandoori spices to the veggies.
7. Once the veggies are almost done, place them in a pot with the cooking lentils. Add in the yogurt, cumin seeds, and tomato puree at this point.
8. Cook the lentils for five more minutes on low heat.
9. Now you should have brown rice that is almost done, chicken that is almost done, and lentils that are done.
10. Lightly cover the bottom of the rectangular dish with olive oil; put down a layer of brown rice, and then a layer of spinach.
11. Drain the lentils significantly and then layer the lentils on top of the spinach.
12. Slice the chicken and then layer one half of the casserole dish with the chicken.
13. Sprinkle thyme, ground coriander, salt, pepper, and chili powder on top. Bake for twenty minutes at 270° F/130° C.
14. Take the casserole out of the oven, take a piece of chicken, and cut through it. The chicken should be super tender and finished. If there is a bit of pink, cook it for five minutes longer.
15. Salt to taste. Enjoy!

Let me know how this spiced chicken lentil casserole works for you!

Cheers,