Portuguese Chicken and Lentil Casserole

It is Winter here and we are loving warming casseroles. Who doesn't?  This meal was born out of having chicken and lentils ready to be used and having wanted to try Portuguese spices for some time. The flavour is fresh and hearty.  The first time I made this we served it as a casserole on top of rice, but lately I have found that adding rice to casseroles bulks them out well, reduces the amount of rice you eat over all and tastes great! Plus you don't need to spend the time cooking rice the next night. Much simpler.

Ingredients

Serves 4 

• 2 x chicken breasts, diced
• 2 x chorizo, sliced
• 1 x can brown lentils
• 1 red onion, diced
• 800g tomatoes
• 150g spinach
• 1 tsp Sweet paprika
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Allspice
• 2 tsp dried Oregano
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 bunch fresh Parsley, chopped
• Rind of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1/4 cup white wine

Method

1. Fry your chorizo in as small amount of oil as you can get away with. Trust me, these things are self saucing when it comes to oil.
2. Once browned, remove and place on a plate covered with paper towel to soak up the excess oil. Pop some paper towel on top as well if you want to really go to town.   Pour the majority of the oil left in the pan down the sink, retaining just a little for flavour. Use this to fry your onion.
3. Once the onion is translucent, add spices and cook until fragrant.
4. Add chicken and seal.
5. Deglaze your pan with the white wine.
6. Return the chorizo and add tomatoes, rice, oregano, half the lemon rind.
7. Bring to the boil then simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
8. Remove the lid and simmer for another 30-45 minutes.  Add the remaining lemon rind and spinach in the final 5 minutes, stirring until the spinach is wilted. 
9. Finally stir through the parsley and serve! (Don't forget to remove the bay leaves!)

Nutrition Breakdown

Amount Per Serving

• Calories482.1
• Total Fat16.1 g
• Saturated Fat5.4 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat2.3 g
• Monounsaturated Fat6.8 g
• Cholesterol99.5 mg
• Sodium473.1 mg
• Potassium1,204.1 mg
• Total Carbohydrate38.2 g
• Dietary Fiber11.7 g
• Sugars0.3 g
• Protein46.2 g
•