Who doesn’t love a good curry? This filling dish will quickly become a family teatime favourite, or a popular dish for sharing with friends – a one-pot wonder at its best. You could swap the chicken for fish, seafood or tofu.

Serves:  4

What You’ll Need:

• olive oil, for cooking
• 2 large red onions, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 400g red lentils
• 800ml vegetable stock
• 6 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2–3 tablespoons madras curry paste (or use a milder one)
• 300g baby spinach leaves
• sea salt and black pepper
• thick live probiotic yoghurt, to serve (optional)

What To Do:

• Heat a little olive oil in a pan, add the onions and garlic and cook for 4–5 minutes, until softened. Add the lentils and a little of the stock and simmer. Keep adding small amounts of stock bit by bit as the lentils cook and soften, as if you were cooking a risotto.
• Once the lentils are starting to soften and break down, add the chicken and curry paste and stir well. Continue simmering and adding the stock until the chicken has cooked through.
• Add the baby spinach at the last minute, season with salt and pepper and stir until the spinach has wilted. Serve immediately, with a dollop of yoghurt on top, if you like.

Star Ingredient:

• Have you noticed that red lentils break down when cooked? That’s because they are very rich in soluble fibre, which is great for lowering cholesterol. It does this by binding to cholesterol in the bowel and carrying it away before it gets absorbed.

Healthy recipes from BBC Good Food Show stars; Dale Pinnock.