quick lemon + garlic chicken with kale

This meal takes me 15 minutes to make and it only uses one pan. Sometimes the thought of having to wash multiple pots and pans puts me off cooking, and I'll end up eating a less than ideal "picked from the pantry" dinner consisting of handfuls of whatever I can find (usually eaten whilst still standing in the pantry). 

When I'm in a cooking mood, I'm all for marinating a chicken for a few hours. But when you need a quick dinner, this recipe provides the lemon/garlic flavour in a very short amount of time. I like to serve it with kale because it's incredibly nutrient dense (I used curly kale in the photo above), but you could substitute silver-beet or spinach. 

I cook this meal in olive oil because I cook it over a medium heat only and I prefer the flavour of olive oil with lemon and garlic. (When cooking over a higher heat, I use saturated fats like coconut oil because they remain stable at high temperatures).

ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts (or a few thighs)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Half a lemon
• Salt
• Pepper
• Bunch of kale
• Handful of flaked almonds
• Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• Olive oil

preparation

1. Cut the chicken into strips about 2cm thick (this speeds up the cooking time).

2. Heat a frypan over a medium heat and finely slice the garlic. Fry the garlic in a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan for a minute or so, then add the chicken. 

3. Sear the chicken pieces on both sides, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with a lid or some foil and leave it to simmer until the chicken is just cooked through. 

4. While chicken is cooking, remove the stalks from the kale and tear the leaves into bite sized pieces.

5. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the chicken and the garlic from the pan, leaving the juices in the pan. (I tip the chicken and garlic onto the plate I'm going to eat off - more saving on dishes).

6. Throw the kale into the pan, adding a little more olive oil if needed, and move it around the pan in the chicken juices until it is slightly tender and wilted. Throw the chicken and garlic back into the pan and stir everything around. Top with the flaked almonds and parsley.

Serves 2.