I put together a cheap, pretty quick, way tasty dinner last night: smoked chicken thighs and lentils. (Stay with me now.) On the plate in about an hour, with maybe 20 minutes of active prep time if you work slowly.
I smoked bone-in skinless chicken thighs for about an hour in my R2D2 smoker, with about a quart of lump charcoal and a couple handfuls of fruitwood. Struck by inspiration, I looked over to my overflowing pots of rosemary, thyme and oregano, lopped off a few stems of each, and threw them on the fire, too. That added a really nice herbaceous aroma that permeated the chicken along with the standard smoke. Highly recommended. After about an hour the fire had died off, and I finished cooking the thighs on a stovetop grill pan to get them up to temp.
The lentils are the star of the show, in my mind. Lightly smoky from the pork, just a little heat from the peppers, yet the earthy lentil flavor comes through. This is one of my favorite side dishes, period. The recipe comes from Sally Schneider's great book "A New Way To Cook." In the pot/pan of your choosing, chuck in:
- 3/4 - 1c of lentils
- 1 shallot, halved or quartered
- 4 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed
- 1 - 2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, halved, seeds and ribs removed, depending on your heat preference (this time I used 5 tiny Thai chilis from the garden, worked perfectly)
- 2 - 3oz piece of smoky, salty cured pork (I use about 1/2 and 1/2 smoked jowl and salt pork; bacon works)
- 2 bay leaves
Cover that all with water by about an inch, bring it to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Check the seasoning at the 10 minute mark, add salt if desired. Simmer for another 10 minutes, then kill the flame and let it continue to gently cook with residual heat for 15 minutes. Remove the all the big chunks of flavoring agents, adjust the seasoning, and they're ready.
This whole meal costs a few bucks, tops. And unlike a lot of cheap food that takes several hours to braise, roast or stew all the good flavors into, this takes next to no active time for tasty results.
It's a humble looking plate, but it brings the flavor: