Paprika chicken with red lentils and cherry tomatoes

While there's no cure for osteoarthritis, it's widely acknowledged that the condition's symptoms can be alleviated by tinkering with your diet so that it includes foods with anti-inflammatory properties.

Before Christmas readers of this blog heard from nutritionists Kamilla Shaffner and Jo Travers who both stressed the importance of avoiding ready meals that are full of saturated fats and salt. Since then we’ve been doing our utmost to avoid the temptation of microwaved dinners and have come up with a few corking recipes (don’t miss this roast salmon and broccoli dish) that are both tasty and created in an arthritis-friendly manner.

Our next, paprika chicken with red lentils and braised tomatoes, only takes 45 minutes to prepare from scratch and only requires you to chop an onion, garlic and a handful of parsley.

Happy cooking and bon appetit!

Serves: 3-4 people

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 x chicken thighs
• 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 250 ml split red lentils, rinsed
• 250 ml whole cherry tomatoes
• 500 ml low sodium chicken stock
• 1 tsp chili flakes (optional)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Finely chopped parsley (garnish)

Method

Start by heating your oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. While that’s happening, dice your onion and finely slice your 3 cloves of garlic. We know knife skills aren’t always easy if you have arthritis in your hands, so you might want to try one of these nifty food choppers.

Next, add a splash of extra virgin olive oil to an ovenproof pan over a medium/high heat and then lay out your six chicken thighs. You want them to go golden, so don’t crowd the pan and leave them for 5 minutes on both sides. When the skin is starting to crisp, remove them from the pan and set aside.

In the remaining juice and oil, add the onions, garlic, smoked paprika and cumin. Stir for 3 to 5 minutes or until onions become transparent.

Next up, add your lentils, stock, tomatoes, chili flakes, and return the chicken thighs to the pan. Slide into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 mins. When the chicken is cooked through and the lentils have softened to your taste, remove from the oven, garnish with parsley and serve.

Extra tip

Save the bones from your chicken thighs and any other chicken recipes you cook and use them to create a nutritious bone broth.