I've always found lentils interesting. The vegan community loves them for their high protein content, making them a great meat alternative. I used it in a recipe once. It was absolutely disgusting. Either the recipe went wrong, my cooking skills have a far way to go, or lentils are horrible things that should have never been brought into existence.
I don't particularly like cooking, but I want to love it. Cooking brings people together, you need it to survive and it's healthy. One point surpasses all of them. It's cheap. In order to achieve this goal, I'm exploring tons of recipes and seeing what sticks. I'd like to highlight one recipe I'm obsessed with.
One recipe I'm obsessed with is Chicken Curry with Lentils. It features creamy spinach, interesting lentils, and a hint of spice. With only six ingredients and requiring just one pan, it's perfect for beginners like me.
Ingredients
Based on Albert Heijn's Linzencurry met Kip, this recipe serves four people.
- 1 onion
- ~300g chicken breast fillets
- 2 cans of lentils (400g net each, 265g lentils each)
- 400ml coconut milk
- ~100g green curry paste
- 600g (frozen) spinach (cubes)
- a drizzle of olive oil
Recipe
- Rinse the lentils in cold water
- Slice the union into half rings
- Slice the chicken into strips
- Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the union for about 3 minutes
- Add chicken to pan and fry for another 3 minutes.
- Add the drained lentils, coconut milk and green curry paste to the pan. Bring to a boil.
- Gradually add spinach, ensuring it defrosts before adding more.
- (Optional) If you prefer a thicker curry, you can add cornstarch.
That's it! Enjoy your curry or store leftovers in the fridge or freezer.
Buy in bulk
To save money on this recipe, consider buying chicken in bulk. Slice and portion the chicken, then freeze it. Take it out the day before you plan to cook the curry. Frozen spinach can also be bought in bulk.
Freeze for later
Let the curry cool completely before transferring it to an airtight freezer-safe container. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating. The curry might thicken slightly while frozen, so you may need to add a splash of water when reheating it.