Cockpot Lentils And Chard

Total Time: 7 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 7 hrs

Ingredients

• 12 ounces swiss chard
• 1 cup lentils, rinsed, drained
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced, pressed your choice
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed, coarsely crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
• 2 cups reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth
• salt
• 6 ounces neufchatel cheese, room temperature

Recipe

• 1 rinse and drain chard well. trim off coarse stem ends; then cut stems crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips and set aside.
• 2 cover chard leaves and refrigerate.
• 3 in a 3-quart or larger crockpot, combine chard stems,lentils, onion, garlic, cumin seeds, red pepper flakes, and black pepper.
• 4 pour in chicken broth. cover and cook at low setting until lentils are tender when mashed with a fork (6 to 7 hours).
• 5 cut chard leaves crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips; stir into cooker.
• 6 increase heat setting to high; cover and cook until chard is wilted and bright green (about 15 minutes more).
• 7 season lentil sauce to taste with salt.
• 8 if serving over cooked pasta, add lentil sauce and neufchatel cheese to linquine and mix lightly to coat well.
• 9 offer freshly grated parmesan cheese to add taste, if desired.