Moroccan Chicken and Lentils

At long last, my Moroccan Chicken and Lentils post. This recipe comes direct from my friend/colleague Jess. She gave me some of this to try and I had to have the recipe. The cinnamon flavor combined with the subtle heat in this dish is amazing. It's incredibly hearty on it's own but if you wanted to make it go farther, serving this with basmati rice or pita chips would be pretty amazing.

Moroccan Chicken and Lentils

1 8oz package baby carrots
1 1/2 cups lentils, uncooked
1 1/2 lbs frozen chicken breast tenders (although I used thighs for incredibly tender meat)
2 tbsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth

Place all ingredients, in order listed, in a 4 or 5-quart electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on high setting for 5 hours. Alternatively, cook on high setting for 1 hour, then reduce to low setting and cook for 7 hours.



Is that not ridiculously easy?! Also I was thinking that, if you wanted a vegetarian option, adding more carrots and a couple cans of chickpeas would be pretty out of this world. My only worry is that the chickpeas may get over cooked, so adding the chick peas halfway through the cooking process rather than at the beginning may be necessary.

This yields 6-1 cup servings and per serving has only 320 calories, 2 grams of fat and ridiculous amounts of protein and fiber.


After only a couple hours cooking. As it cooks down, the lentils get incredibly soft and break down a bit. The end result is not the prettiest image ever (but then, greyish green was never an attractive hue), but trust me, it's delicious.

Up next, I've got a really healthy, vegetarian pasta and white bean toss I'm working for a quick evening meal through the week that can turn into a healthy lunch option.