I made up a recipe tonight. I’ve been craving lentils, but didn’t feel like making soup again. So I decided to throw something together. It was so good! I tried it warm (great) and chilled (still great).

Ingredients:
* 2 cups green lentils
* 2 boneless chicken thighs
* 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms
* 1 medium onion
* 1 orange bell pepper
* 2 baby cucumbers
* 1 avocado
* 1 lemon
* olive oil
* salt
* pepper
* pressed garlic (or garlic powder if you prefer)
* cayenne (optional, but I think cayenne goes in just about everything)

Directions:
Cook lentils in a pot per instructions (I did five cups of water to two cups of lentils on high until the water came to a boil, and then reduced to low to simmer). You want to cook the lentils until they are tender, but not mushy. Mix juice from one lemon into lentils and chill. While the lentils are cooking dice chicken into bite-sized pieces and cut onion into strips (I like my onions super caramelized, so I sauteed them in olive oil by themselves in my cast iron skillet). Once tender and charred on the edges remove from the pan and set aside. Then add a bit of olive oil and the chicken to the skillet, add salt, pepper, and cayenne. Slice mushrooms and add to the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked and the mushrooms are tender add the crushed garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the chicken/mushroom mixture to the onions you had set aside and chill.
When you’re almost ready to serve the meal dice up bell pepper, cucumbers, and avocado into bite sized pieces.
Stir the vegetables, and the chicken/mushroom/onion mix into the lentils. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne to taste.

This recipe makes 6-8 servings.

Like I said, this was good served warm or served cold, although cucumbers warm is not my favorite thing in the world. I would probably add another bell pepper in a different color, just to give it more of a pop and pump of the veggies a little bit. I’m sure cherry tomatoes would be a good addition if you are going to be serving it cold.