Pan Roasted Chicken and Green Lentils with Lacinto Kale

This is a recipe that I developed. The roasting method is easy to adapt to other sauces, for example instead of tomato paste, sometimes I substitute pesto. I have to admit I'm not a huge kale fan. I think it's tough and awkward to cook with and doesn't have the depth of flavor that escarole has. Neither does it have the versatility of escarole. Nevertheless, I really like the Lacinto kale. It still has that kale vibe, but it's much easier to work with. It's also a little softer and more amenable to sauté.

1 c or 8 oz by weight green lentils

Water and chicken or vegetable broth

1 elephant garlic head

2 tomatoes

1 largish shallot

1 small bunch Lacinto Kale

2 small red onions

3-4 baby carrots

1 lemon

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Approximately 1/4 tube of double concentrate tomato paste

Salt, pepper

Olive oil

Put lentils in a sauce pan and cover with a combination of water and broth. Cut the 2 red onions and lemon in half and add to pan. Also add the baby carrots. 

Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat to simmer for at least 1 hour. I had to simmer for over 1 1/2 hours to get the lentils to the right softness that I like. You will probably need to add more water or broth once or twice. Drain the lentils and discard the veggies.

Chop the shallots and halve the large cloves of elephant garlic. Dice the tomatoes. Chop the kale into large bite size pieces. 

Add oil to a pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots. Cook til the shallots start to soften and add the tomatoes and kale. Cook til the kale softens and the color changes to a brighter shade of green. Add the lentils and some broth. Stir to mix, cover partially and let simmer til the broth is almost gone. 

Meanwhile trim any fat/bone/gristle from the breasts. Score the top deeply along the whole breast in a grid of 1 inch squares. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Squeeze out 2-3 strands of tomato paste about the length of each breast. Spread over the breast and into the scoring. 

Heat 2-4 T of olive oil. Put the breasts into the pan scored side up. Brown the bottom on medium to medium high heat for 7-10 minutes. Turn the breasts over. Cook on medium or less heat until they are cooked through about 20 minutes. As they are close to done turn up the heat to medium high and let the breasts char. 

Serve each breast with a spoonful of the thick tomato paste oil. 

While this is a nice hearty meal, I sometimes add a baked potato for each plate.