Moroccan Chicken and Lentils

Lentils.  Hmmm.  Never had them before.  I think I may have them in my food storage, but I've never actually eaten them before.  I certainly don't know how to prepare them.  I've had my eye on this Moroccan Chicken and Lentil dish for a while.  Maybe I'll make that for Christmas Eve dinner.
Okay, just need to find lentils at the store.  Hopefully they're in the bulk.  Yep, they took a while to find but they have some.
Home now, let's get this dinner started.  Uh oh, the recipe is calling for one pound of lentils and I'm not sure how many I bought.  I just put a few scoops in a bag.  Somehow I have to find out how much is one pound.  ::putting some in a bag, running upstairs, and placing them on the bathroom scale::  Darn, they're not even registering.  Next idea.  Stand on the scale, weigh myself with and without the lentils.  Um, I'm not sure how accurate this is.  It says there is a 2 pound difference.  Calling up neighbor-friend who once loaned me a candy thermometer.  Nope, calling a different neighbor-friend.  Score.  A little nervous since it's Christmas Eve, I hope she doesn't mind me barging in like this.  She's doesn't seem to be, oh good.

I'm so relieved the food scale allows me to figure out how much is one pound.  I probably should have soaked these lentils over night.  Oh well,  too late now.  I rinse them really well.  Then I add them to some boiling water and let them simmer for 25 minutes until soft.  I rinse in cold water and drain.

Then I get busy on the dressing.  I mix together olive oil, red wine vinegar, ground cumin, chili powder, and minced garlic.  I pour half of this over the lentils and let them cool.  It's so strange that the lentils are served cool instead of warm.  Huh.

Next I saute the onion until it's dark brown and soft.  I add some thinly sliced organic chicken breast (I will never go back to inorganic chicken breast after seeing Food Inc) and add cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon.  I know the husband isn't a fan of cinnamon in his dinner.  Hope he doesn't notice.

I find a Christmas platter and place the lentils on it.  The chicken and onions and the rest of the sauce go on top.  Oh, I almost forgot.  I need to chop up some parsley.  I quickly pick off some parsley, wash it, and throw it in my I-don't-know-what-I'd-do-without-you chopper.  The parsley gets sprinkled on top and voila dinner is served.  Although now I'm thinking cilantro would have tasted much better on top.  Oh well, next time.