Chicken Legs & Green Lentils

📝 Ingredients

• 4 chicken legs (about 250 g each)
• 280 g green lentils
• 3 carrots (about 300 g)
• 1 brown onion (about 150 g)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 chicken stock cube + 1 L hot water
• 1 tsp dried thyme + 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large casserole dish with lid
• Colander
• Peeler
• Chopping board
• Kitchen knife
• Wooden spoon

📖 Steps

1. Remove the skin from the chicken legs by pulling it firmly with a sheet of kitchen paper for a good grip, then season both sides with salt and pepper. Peel the onion and garlic; chop the onion and crush the garlic. Peel the carrots and cut them into 1 cm slices.
2. Rinse the lentils in a colander under cold water, picking out any small stones, then drain. Dissolve the stock cube in 1 L of hot water and keep the stock close at hand.
3. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish over a medium-high heat and brown the chicken legs for 4 min on each side, without moving them, until nicely coloured. Set aside on a plate: they will finish cooking with the lentils.
4. Reduce to a medium heat and fry the onion and carrots for 5 min in the same casserole, stirring, until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more min, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to lift the browned bits from the chicken.
5. Add the lentils, thyme and bay leaf, stir, then pour in the stock. Return the chicken legs on top, pressing them halfway into the lentils, along with any juices from the plate, and bring to the boil.
6. Cover and leave to simmer gently for 40 min over a low heat, stirring once or twice. If the lentils absorb all the liquid before they are cooked, add half a glass of hot water: they should stay just coated.
7. Check that everything is cooked: the lentils should be tender but whole, and the meat should come away easily from the bone, with no trace of pink. Remove the bay leaf, stir in the mustard, season with salt and pepper and leave to rest, covered, for 5 min before serving one chicken leg and a ladleful of lentils per person.