A Healthy Chicken Chilli

We’ve had some up and down weather here in the UK (heat-wave one minute, torrential downpours the next) and many of you tell me these fluctuations are happening around the world. The US have had storms and very high temperatures and Australia is steadily moving into winter time.

It makes food planning a bit of a hit and miss affair and it certainly pays to be flexible. Usually by now my everyday fare features salads, cold deli plates and barbecue offerings – and it still has on some days, but when the mercury drops even a little then I fall back on a couple of other tried and tested staples.

Here is one, a chicken chilli, which can be made in a trice (well 30 minutes) and is great for protein and fibre. The red lentils in the recipe when cooked make a kind of purée that helps to thicken the mixture without adding further carbs.

You can make using leftover chicken or turkey, shred or chop into small pieces and stir into the pan for the last 10 minutes of the cooking time. It’s worth making double the batch too since it freezes well.

HEALTHY CHICKEN CHILLI

Ingredients

METRIC/US

low-fat cooking spray or mist

1 large onion, chopped

2 tsp grated root ginger

700 g/1½ lb mini chicken breast fillets, roughly chopped

400 g/14 oz can chopped tomatoes

100 g/½ cup red split lentils

2 sweet red peppers/capsicums, seeded and chopped

2 x 400 g/14 oz cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

450 ml/2 cups chicken stock/bouillon

2 tsp chipotle paste (I used Discover Chipotle Paste)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

chopped coriander/cilantro leaves to garnish

plain or cauliflower rice to serve (optional)

Method

Spritz a large pan with the low-fat cooking spray or mist. Heat, add the onion, ginger and chicken and cook for 5 minutes until golden.
Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, peppers/capsicums, stock/bouillon, chipotle paste and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the lentils and peppers/capsicums are tender and the chicken is cooked through with no pink meat.
Divide between bowls to serve, scattered with chopped coriander/cilantro. Serve with plain or cauliflower rice if liked.

SERVES 6

WLS PORTION: ½

* suitable for Freezing

CALORIES PER PORTION: 323

PROTEIN: 43.4g

CARBOHYDRATE: 35.6g

FAT: 2.8g

Image courtesy of Waitrose