There have been several lentil threads over the last couple of months, I think there is a resurgance interest! I am linking one of them with some great recipes. Here are a couple of other recipes I have made that are very good:

Curried Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew with Garbanzo Beans

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
5 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
1 large bunch or 2 small bunches Swiss chard, tough stalks removed, coarsely chopped (about 12 cups)
1 pound red lentils (about 2 1/4 cups)
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
Plain yogurt

PREPARATION
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until golden, about 13 minutes. Mix in curry and cayenne.
Add broth and chard. Increase heat; bring to boil. Add lentils and garbanzos; reduce heat to medium. Cover; simmer until lentils are
tender, stirring twice, about 10 minutes. Divide stew among bowls. Top with yogurt.

Serves 6.
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The Best Lentil Salad
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups (1 lb.) Du Puy lentils
1 medium red onion, diced
1 cup dried currants (you could also use raisins or other dried fruit)
1/3 cup capers

Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. strong mustard
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

Optional add-ins:
Arugula
Walnuts
Goat cheese
Fresh herbs: flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, basil
Sprouts
Crispy seasonal veggies

Directions:
1. Rinse lentils well, drain. Place in a pot and cover with a 3-4 inches of water, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Check lentils for doneness after 15 minutes, but they should take about 20 minutes in total. You will know they are cooked if they still retain a slight tooth ��" al dente! Overcooking the lentils is the death of this dish. Be careful!
2. While the lentils are simmering, make the dressing by placing all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake vigorously to combine.
3. Finely dice red onion - the salad is best if all the ingredients are about the same size. If using raisins, chop them roughly to make them a bit smaller, and do the same with the capers if they are large.
4. When the lentils are cooked, remove from heat, drain and place under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled slightly but still a little warm, place lentils in a large serving bowl and toss with dressing. Add other onion, capers, and currants. If using other add-ins such as herbs, greens, or cheese, wait until just before serving. Otherwise, this salad can hang out in the fridge for a couple days.

Here is a link that might be useful: another lentil thread

With a wide variety of lentils available (size and color), it's good to know the cooking characteristics of them so you choose the right one. Brown and green ones are larger than the reddish-orange variety and hold their shape better for use in a salad. Cook the lentils until just tender to bite. If a recipe calls for green lentils and you have to substitute with brown ones, cook them for less time or they can get too soft and fall apart.

I just put my sprouted lentils in the refrigerator this morning (after 2-days of sprouting), and prefer using sprouted lentils when possible.

The link below has a lot of good general information.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: All About Lentils

Sara Moulton made a salad this week using French green lentils, and she said she cooked them for 25 minutes. I've never made a salad with them because it sounds a bit tricky, and I have not bought the French green lentils yet.

I tend to cook lentils either Middle Eastern or Mediterranean style or Indian style, but I never use a recipe, and so they always come out slightly different, which I like. For Mediterranean style, I start with Sharon's (Canarybird) recipe, but I don't know where that is any more. When I make soup, the main vegetables I add are potatoes, tomatoes, celery, onion, and garlic, and that goes for both Indian and European styles. Generally, I always add various chilies/peppers, and for Indian style, I add minced ginger and curry powder plus a few other spices.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Sara Moulton's salad recipe

I really love lentils of all kinds. I make salads of the tiny ones and soups from the brown grocery store variety. One of my favorite Greek restaurants serves a delicious lentil salad with its sandwiches. I pretty much copy their salad. It consists of cooked small Du Puy style lentils marinated in a vinaigrette with finely chopped shallots, carrots, some parsley and crumbled Feta. Sometimes I'll add some finely chopped red bell pepper too. I love the salad, and even my husband likes it.

It's easy to overcook lentils. It's not such a big deal when you're making soup, but for salads, you don't want them to turn to mush. I've found that it's better to cook them over a very low simmer. That way they don't jostle each other and break down. Also start checking at least ten minutes before the estimated cooking time.

I also like sprouted lentils, so I've got to look at Grainlady's link. My daughter makes them and shares them with me. I found a new item in my local grocery store -- dried sprouted green lentils. I picked up a package and am going to give them a try too.

I've linked below to a lentil producer that sells a nice variety of the smaller lentils. I'm able to find them at local grocery stores or natural foods store. I've used all of them except the Harvest Gold.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lentil varieties

shambo-

If you want to save some money on dried sprouted lentils, sprout your own and dehydrate them yourself. Dried sprouted lentils (commercial or homemade) cook in about 5 minutes, compared to the normal 30-minutes. Or you can soak them in hot water for 30-minutes to rehydrate them, and use them in a vegetarian taco mixture or added to a salad without cooking them at all.

We use homemade dried sprouted lentils as a snack food:

(recipe from the Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook)

1 quart lentil sprouts
2 T. dehydrated onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
3 T. Tamari

Mix well until coated and allow to marinate 24-hours in the refrigerate. Dehydrate at 125-degrees F approx. 6-8 hours.

We've branched out on flavors for this recipe using dry seasonings like Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Southwest Chipotle, Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Fiesta Lime or McCormick Grill Mates Barbecue. Just remember, a little goes a long way when you dehydrate foods. Any flavor you put on them intensifies while drying.

When you sprout lentils, "they have less than half the calories, carbs and protein contained in cooked lentils. Lentil sprouts have 82 calories and 17 grams carbohydrates in each 1-cup serving. An equivalent serving of cooked lentils contains 230 calories and 40 grams carbohydrates. Sprouted lentils have 7 grams protein and cooked lentils have 18 grams protein."

Sprouted lentils are also high in vitamin C (20% of the DV compared to 5% of the DV for cooked lentils).

-Grainlady

In our area, brown lentils are the least expensive so that's the variety I use most often.

After making it for years without a recipe, my daughters finally convinced me to measure out and write down our brown lentil-barley soup ingredients.

BARLEY-LENTIL SOUP

Put in 3 quart pot:

1 large or 2 small carrots, sliced
1 medium to large onion, chopped
1 or 2 stalks sliced celery
1 peeled garlic clove containing two whole cloves, stuck on a toothpick
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped or 1/2 can of diced tomatoes
2 cups beef broth
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1/2 cup of beer (optional but my secret ingredient)
water to fill pot about 3/4 full
salt, pepper to taste and a dash of Worcestershire sauce

You can also add chopped peppers if you like a spicier soup or some diced soaked and chopped dried mushrooms

When liquid is boiling, add:
1/4 cup of barley

Turn heat down to a fast simmer (medium-low on my stove), cover, and cook for 20 minutes.

Add 1 cup of brown lentils

Continue cooking until barley, lentils and vegetables are done (about 20 min. after adding the lentils), stirring occasionally and adding more hot water if needed.
Then add some sliced mushrooms. You can also add some chopped spinach and cook about 10 more minutes. Stir in chopped fresh parsley when soup is done.

One rule I know regarding lentils-and I haven't looked at the links provided but I'm sure that they covered this- is that you never add salt until after they've cooked, as this slows down the cooking process.

Grainlady, I'm going to send your post to my daughter-in-law. She is the dehydrating expert in our family. I guess I need to just take the leap and start sprouting my own. I do love the spouted lentils cooked in an Indian style sauce.