Yogurt-Marinated Chicken with Lentils

While getting my heart broken (again) by the Bucs last night, I was enjoying one of my very favorite dishes: Yogurt-Marinated Chicken with Lentils. This is a recipe that I developed after having something sort of similar in a restaurant. After playing with the ingredients a bit, it turned into something that I like much better than that restuarant dish. I find myself craving this pretty frequently, but that's OK since it's actually pretty darned healthy. This dish is also nice for people who don't dedicate quite so much time to grocery-shopping as I do, since almost all of the ingredients come from the freezer or pantry, and the fresh produce items (onion, garlic, lemon) are relatively shelf-stable as far as produce goes... This also is a really simple recipe to make, and not just in the crazy Emily-style way...

Yogurt-Marinated Chicken with Lentils

  2kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Marinade:
      200g low fat Greek-style yogurt
      1 T paprika
      1 tsp ground cumin
      ½ tsp ground turmeric
      ½ – 1 tsp ground cayenne
      2 T lemon juice
      1 T olive oil

  1 tsp olive oil
  2 large shallots (or 1 small red onion), minced
  2 – 3 cloves garlic, minced
  2 C dry brown/green lentils
  3 C chicken stock
  1 C water
  500g chopped frozen spinach (thawed, squeezed dry)
  1 (14.5 oz) can whole tomatoes (crushed by hand, not drained)
  1 -2 T Dijon mustard
  juice of 1 – 1.5 lemons
  low fat Greek-style yogurt to serve

Combine all marinade ingredients. Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and add to the marinade for several hours or (ideally) overnight. Preheat a gas grill.* Remove the chicken from the marinade and thread onto skewers. Grill until just cooked through. (Start grilling the chicken during the final cooking stage of lentils, below…)

Meanwhile, prepare the lentils: Heat oil in a saucepan. Sauté shallot/onion and garlic for ~2 minutes (until softened). Add lentils and toss to coat, then add chicken stock and water. Bring to a boil and simmer (covered) over low heat for 15 minutes. Add the spinach, tomatoes, and mustard. Bring back to a boil and simmer (covered) for 20 minutes. Add lemon juice and simmer uncovered until much of the excess liquid has evaporated (about 30 minutes) stirring occasionally.

The lentils are tasty as is, but yogurt adds a nice creaminess, so I usually stir some into my lentils. Serve the chicken over a bed of lentils with yogurt (if using) on the side.

Serves 6.

*As with any grilled dish, this could be done under a broiler if you don't have a grill, but I love the slightly charred flavor you get from cooking with fire, so I can't promise it will be as tasty without a grill...