As any home cook knows, the best recipes are the ones that combine as many of the following characteristics as possible:

• Delicious – the family will eat it
• Fast – not too much prep or cook time
• Cheap – won’t break the budget
• Easy cleanup – because who likes dishes?
• Healthy – because duh

Luckily for you, this recipe combines all those things! In one pan, in under 30 minutes, using frozen, canned, and pantry items, you can have a family-pleasing, heart-healthy, budget and waistline friendly meal on the table.

Ingredients:

• 2 large frozen chicken breasts (or thawed)
• 2/3 cup lentils (or other bean if canned)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup water or stock
• 1 pound pasta
• 1 cup chopped veggies and/or fresh spinach
• Seasonings of choice – I used garlic salt and some dried onion

Step 1: In a pan, combine the lentils, water, tomatoes, and chicken. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered. Cook for 10-15 minutes and turn chicken.

Step 2: Add the pasta (and more water if you need it) and bring back to a boil. Simmer covered another 7-8 minutes.

Step 3: Add in any fresh chopped veggies for the final 5 minutes or so of cooking.

The spinach I threw in last. You could also make this in a crock pot on low for several hours. Make sure the chicken is fully cooked (cut into it and be sure there is no pink) before serving.

If you want to turn this into a soup, you could do so easily by adding more water. If you want a thicker sauce, let boil uncovered a few minutes to thicken.