Ilva of Lucullian Delights organizes the Paper Chef challenge, which is similar to the Iron Chef challenges.   The rules are very similar, you are given 4 ingredients and you have to come up with a meal using all 4 items – it can be one dish or it can be a few, you just have to use the 4 ingredients.  This month Magnus, of Amsterdam, who was the Paper Chef winner for the challenge 33, is hosting the challenge and has selected the following ingredients:

- Turkey

- Anaheim peppers

- Winter squash

- Lentils

When I saw the ingredients I knew I had to take on the challenge as I love all of these items and I knew they would make a simple dinner for one – my man is out of town all week!

First I roasted the acorn squash until fork tender, no seasonings, just plan oven roasted.  Then I peeled them and cut into chunks.

I love roasted chicken breasts, so I used the same recipe that I normally use, but with a turkey breast – coated with grapeseed oil and seasoned with sea salt and cracked black pepper.  Cooking with the grapeseed oil permits you to cook the chicken at a high heat without drying out the chicken.  It comes out very flavorful and moist.  While the chicken was roasting, I cooked some French green lentils with some chicken broth, until tender, but still slightly crunchy.  While the lentils and chicken were cooking, I sauteed some shallots with diced Anaheim peppers until caramelized and then added the squash and cooked just until heated through.

Once the lentils were done, I drained them and tossed with the squash mixture and reheated.  Thinly sliced the turkey breast and plated the meal.  End result, quick and easy dinner in less than an hour, which was very flavorful with the nuttiness of the lentils, spicy peppers and very sweet acorn squash and a lightly roasted turkey breast.