Healthy (and heartburn friendly) greens with lentils and chicken

This recipe has become a new standard in our household.  The idea originally came from Everyday Food which my wonderful mother gets my husband and I a subscription to.  The original recipe was a bit bland in my opinion and to be honest I don't even remember what it was.
Eric has been really into buying greens this spring and summer, and I often do not like many of the healthier greens.  This recipe has changed that.  Additionally, Eric has been trying to go off of the heartburn medicine and control his heartburn with diet.  This dish fits the requirements of that restricted diet.

1 cup dry lentils
2 cups water
juice of 1 lemon
1 pkg. chicken breast tenders
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. fresh oregano (minced)
2 tsp. fresh rosemary (minced)
2 tsp. dried thyme
2 bunches of kale (I like the curly leaf kale)
1 small onion (diced)
1 clove garlic (minced)
salt to taste

There are 3 parts to this recipe: chicken, lentils, and kale.  Marinate the chicken tenders in lemon juice, 2 tbsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. rosemary, 1 tsp. oregano, 1 tsp. thyme.  Combine water and lentils and boil for 2-3 minutes.  Reduce heat and simmer covered until the lentils are soft.  Drain the lentils if necessary.
Meanwhile, prepare the kale by tearing into small pieces and removing tough stems.  Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large pan.  Cook onions until soft.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add 1 tsp. each oregano, rosemary and thyme.  Add the kale and cover.  cook over low-medium heat until the kale cooks down.  Add salt to taste.
While the kale is cooking, saute the chicken in a skillet until cooked through.  When all three parts are done, mix the drained lentils with the kale.  Shred the chicken and serve on top of the kale lentil mixture.

Delicious!

Close up

When making this recipe, I used herbs form our garden which somehow survived our three week trip without being watered.
One of the best things about this recipe is that it can also be made vegetarian because the lentils are a good protein source.  Just leave out the chicken.

Happy eating!

Quinoa for breakfast (a twist on hot cereal)

I am back from our wonderful long trip and ready to start posting eating experiences again.  I will be posting about the food we ate on our trip slowly, but surely, but first, here is a new breakfast (or healthy dessert) recipe that I discovered, and of course, altered a bit.  Quinoa is high in protein for a grain and therefore makes a good breakfast option.

I found the idea for this on allrecipes.com.

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

2 cups apple juice

1/2 apple- chopped

1/2 pear- chopped

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. vanilla extract

salt to taste

Rinse quinoa.  Combine quinoa and water in a pan and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and continue cooking covered until all of the water is absorbed (about 15 minutes).  Meanwhile, chop the apple and pear.  When the quinoa is cooked, add apple juice, apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, chopped apples, and chopped pears.  Cook uncovered until it boils down to desired consistency (about 20 minutes).  Add vanilla and serve warm.

(The original recipe called for raisins instead of apples and pears, so feel free to add those if you wish.) 

The taste is yummy and a bit tart.  You can sweeten it if you wish.  You could also add milk or soy milk to make it a bit creamy, but I ate it just plain and it was good.  

Enjoy!