Spiced Lentils with Squash and Chicken

Here’s a hearty, one-pot meal that perfect for fall: Turkish-style spiced lentils with tender squash and chicken, bolstered with seasonal greens.

Zero waste. One pan. Comfort food. Seasonal ingredients. And ready in under an hour. There’s a lot to love about this recipe.

I know I’ve been sharing a lot of Mediterranean recipes lately, but our family feels really good when we eat this way, so I won’t apologize! The Med diet is delicious and affordable, especially when you utilize pantry staples like chickpeas and lentils, not to mention all the seasonal produce that’s available.

This recipe happens to be gluten-free, dairy free, though I do suggest serving the dish with Greek-style yogurt and crusty bread. The choice is yours.

Add Spiced Lentils with squash and chicken to your list of easy fall dinner ideas and recipes, because it’s true comfort food and perfect for week night dinner.

Mediterra cookbook

Years ago, in my travels around Europe, the cuisine of Turkey was my absolute favourite. I was fascinated by the melting pot of flavours from east and west, north and south of this eastern Mediterranean country. It was all there in the spices, olive oil, vibrant herbs, and the profusion of fruits and vegetables.

It’s no surprise I loved everything about the new cookbook from UK chef and author Ben Tish. Mediterra: Recipes from the Islands and Shores of the Mediterranean highlights food from every shore of that great big blue sea.

With vibrant photos and inspiring recipes, the book captures the flavours from Spain to Palestine, Croatia to Tunisia, and everything in between.

From this cookbook, we’ve loved the hearty Provencal soup, as well as the spatchcocked chicken with sumac, harissa, honey, dukkah and dill (!). There’s no shortage of flavours in these recipes.

I know I’ll be cooking and baking from Mediterra for a long time.

This recipe for Spiced Lentils with Squash and Chicken jumped out at me because of it’s Turkish flavours, one-pan cooking method and flexitarian ingredients.

I’m always looking to add lentils to our diets; they are incredibly nutritious, and I believe that Beans is How we are going to help end world hunger. Lentils, beans, chickpeas – pulses are our secret weapon!

My only quibble is that the author stated in the headnote that the dish is ready in ‘just 40 minutes’. Yet if you add up the cooking times (not to mention veggie prep!) of toasting, sweating, simmering and finishing, the dish has 55 minutes of cooking time.

It’s not a dish to be rushed, anyway. The squash and the lentils should both be meltingly tender. All in all, it’s a fun and satisfying dish to prepare.

Main Ingredients for Spiced Lentils with Squash and Chicken

This recipe builds and builds flavours, from toasted coriander seed to the final touch of Alepo pepper at the end. It’s a bit of a lengthy ingredient list, but this is typical of bold, earthy stews.

I was able to pull almost everything together from my pantry and freezer. I knew I stashed that leftover chicken and stock for a reason!

• Coriander – source whole coriander seed, then toast and grind for magnificent flavour. I like Montreal-based Epices de Cru/Spice Trekkers for all my whole spices.
• Onions, carrot, garlic – the backbone of fall cooking
• Butternut Squash – just arrived on scene at the market! You can also use pumpkin
• Dried green lentils – always reach for fresh lentils. And I like to soak mine for 10 minutes before cooking.
• Chicken stock – or vegetable stock, homemade is best
• Leftover cooked chicken – roast chicken scraps or poached chicken.
• Seasonal hearty greens – Kale, chard, etc. I used beet greens in the photos because that’s what I had on hand.
• Aromatics – Fresh mint and parsley, Aleppo chili flakes. These punch up the flavours in the dish
• Lemon juice – this rounds out the dish and brings a necessary balance of acidity.

Recipe Notes and Tips

Mediterra author Ben Tish credits his line cook, Suliman, for this recipe. I love that it was presented for staff meal in the restaurant, because that is exactly how we like to eat here at Simple Bites: unpretentious, comforting, rustic and nourishing.

That said, here a a few tips to keep in mind before you get started:

• This recipe has a fair amount of prep, such as chopping veg, toasting spices and washing greens. If you need to get dinner on the table quickly, I suggest getting much of this out of the way the day before, in true meal prep fashion.
• This is a nourishing stew-like dish, and benefits from a little contrast of textures. Try topping it with toasted pumpkin seeds or serving it with crusty bread.
• Want to make it vegan? Sure. Double up on the squash and greens and leave out the chicken. Use vegetable stock.
• The dish is delicious reheated, though not quite as visually appealing. And yes, it can be frozen!

• 1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 medium carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 200 grams Butternut squash peeled, chopped
• 2 cloved garlic crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes or to taste
• 125 grams dried green lentils rinsed
• 600 ml chicken stock or vegetable stock2
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 400 grams cooked chicken shredded
• 100 grams kale or seasonal greens, beet, chard etc. Chopped
• 1 lemon juiced
• handful Italian parsley leaves chopped
• handful fresh mint leaves chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• Aleppo chili to garnish

• Heat a large, deep saucepan over a medium heat. Add the coriander seeds and toast for a few minutes, stirring, until fragrant. Immediately transfer to a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder and grind to a rough powder.

• In the same pan, heat a splash of olive oil over a medium heat. When it is hot, add the carrots, onion and ground coriander, and sweat for 5 minutes, or until the onion is softened but without colour.

• Add the squash, garlic and chilli flakes, and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. Add the lentils and continue stirring for a further minute.

• Pour in the stock and add the tomato paste. Stir well. Bring everything to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 35 minutes or until the lentils and squash are tender.

• Stir in the chicken, kale, lemon juice and mint and parsley leaves. Season with salt and pepper, and continue simmering for 10 minutes, uncovered, or until the lentils are fully cooked and the kale has wilted.

• Serve, sprinkled liberally with Aleppo chill flakes. Delicious when served with a side of thick Greek-style yogurt and flatbread.

Recipe from Mediterra: Recipes from the islands and shores of the Mediterranean by Ben Tish. Recipe reprinted with permission from the author and Bloomsbury Publishing.