Billy Jean is not my lover. This chicken very may well be though.

Last Saturday, for about the first time in three months or so, I decided to take an inventory of what was lurking in the back of the freezer. Figured it was about time to either use it or lose it. Sadly there were some surprises (pearl onions?), a few "oh, that's where that went" (chipotles, half a can of tomatoes), a bunch of "we need to eat it this week" (the chicken about to be mentioned) and some "holy shit I can't believe this is still in there" (wonton wrappers actually encrusted in ice in the back).

Said chicken was from a family pack of whole birds that was on sale at Fairway right before we left for our honeymoon. I had used most of it (backs and wings not included) so all was left was the whole breast. Since I had just gotten back from the farmers market and hadn't gotten any starches (other than the beets) and not wanting to go to the store again, it was time to improvise. (Yes, chicken should always be served with something like potatoes or rice. Or something. I eat enough rice as it is, so it was time for plan c.) Looking through the cupboard revealed about 2 cups of beluga lentils, and given the beets had their greens still with them, I figured I'd use that good ol' salmon/lentil thing along with the beet greens and cook the chicken to go on top.

This salad is a miracle of modern science. Atoms were smashed!

The chicken was roasted in my cast iron skillet until it hit 160°F and then set aside to rest while I made a quick white wine-mustard pan sauce. The greens were separated from the beets (which were then summarily roasted) and then further separated from the stems. I broke the stems down along with some garlic and a few leeks and then sweated them in olive oil. Added the lentils and chicken stock along with some thyme and let cook until the lentils were done. Stirred in the beet greens (which were cut into ribbons) and some sherry vinegar. The beets went into a salad of greens, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots from the farmers market with a roasted garlic vinaigrette.