It isn't a recipe that appeals to me either. My favourite lentil recipe is one of Juli Sahni's recipes out of the Classic Indian Cooking cookbook. Served with rice it is a meal or serve it as a side with chicken or some other curry dish. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Mung Bean and Cauliflower Stew ============================== Adapted from: Classic Indian Cooking by: Julia Sahni I have substituted different lentils for the mung beans. 1 cup yellow split mung beans (moong dal) 2/3 cups finely chopped onions 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root 2 teaspoons minced garlic 1/3 teaspoon turmeric 3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and quartered 1/3 small cauliflower cut into 1 1/2 inch flowerets, about 2 1/2 to 3 cups 1 tablespoon kosher salt Chicken broth For TADKA 12 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper 2 teaspoons lemon juice 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh coriander (Same as cilantro) leaves chopped. . Put the mung beans in a deep pot along with chopped onions, ginger, and 3 cups chicken broth. Add turmeric, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes or until the mung beans are cooked but are still very firm. Add potatoes, cauliflower, salt, and 2 more cups of broth and cook for an addition 15 minutes or until the vegetable are tender and the beans are thoroughly cooked. To make the Tadka Heat the Ghee or oil over high heat in a frying pan. When it is very hot, add cumin seeds, and fry until they turn brown (about 15 seconds). Add red pepper, stir for a moment and immediately pour the contents of the frying pan into the stew. Add lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves. Stir well to mix. Check for salt and serve. I usually serve this with Basmati rice and chapati (Indian Bread).

Red/orange lentils tend to break apart during cooking, especially if they are over cooked, so they work well in soup to help thicken it, rather than remaining in disks like green/brown lentils do. I sprout them first and then use them in soup, something similar to cloudy christine's recipe. Another recipe I use them in: PRIEST'S SOUP (source: "The Versatile Grain and the Elegant Bean" by Sheryl and Mel London) serves 6-8 6 c. chicken stock 1 c. dried peeled split small red lentils, picked over and washed 1/4 c. long-grain rice, either white or brown 3 medium onions, thinly sliced and separated into rings 2 T. finely minced parsley salt to taste 1/8 t. cayenne 1/4 t. sweet paprika 2 T. olive oil 2 T. butter In a 5-qt. Dutch oven, heat 4 c. stock to the boiling point. Add the lentils and rice and bring to a boil again, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 10-minutes. Add only two of the sliced onions, stir and continue to cook for 20-minutes more. Then add the remaining chicken stock, parsley, salt, cayenne and paprika and continue to cook for 10-minutes more. Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in an iron skillet and add the remaining sliced onion. Saute over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is brown and crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve the soup in large bowls with a sprinkling of the brown onions and a few grains of additional paprika for color. -Grainlady

Here's one of my favourite Spanish dishes - Although I have been making it for years the way a Spanish cook once showed me, this time I followed the preparation seen recently on a Spanish Cooking TV channel. Their ingredients included a small piece of or pork fat and a stewing chorizo (chorizo para guisar). If choosing a chorizo for this dish, be sure it is the right type which has the red pimiento colour. The small piece of tocino can be seen just to the right of the sprig of rosemary. Stewed Lentils (Lentejas Estofadas) 350 grams (1 1/2 cups) of small dark lentils - put them to soak the night before in water to cover 100 grams (3.5 oz) red stewing chorizo sausage - lightly pricked over with tines of a fork 50 grams (1.7 oz) salted tocino pork fat - cut into large diced pieces 1 TBSP flour 2 carrots diced fine 2 medium leeks, using only white stems sliced finely in rounds 1 lg clove garlic (this was optional but I wouldn't leave it out) - pass through garlic press 2 cups beef broth (I used 2 Knorr cubes) 1 bay leaf fresh rosemary - small sprig olive oil - about 1/4 cup 2 cups extra water to add after 1st hour 1. Soak lentils the NIGHT BEFORE in water to cover. * Note this if now often unnecessary with newer fast cooking lentils. 2. Next day drain and rinse lentils, put aside. 3. Heat olive oil in heavy cooking pot. When sizzling, add carrots, garlic and leeks. Lightly brown while stirring. 4. Add 1 TBSP flour and keep stirring for about a minute. 5. Add lentils, beef broth, whole chorizo, tocino, laurel and rosemary 6. Put on lid and simmer very gently for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Check after 1st hour and add up to 2 more cups water as needed. 7. Adjust seasoning and serve. ***************************************** Lentil & Potato Potaje (Potaje de Lentejas y Patatas) 3 cups of presoaked lentils 4 medium potatoes - cut into large dice 2 slices of stale bread 3 cloves garlic vinegar salt Put lentils in large pot, cover with water and begin to boil. As soon as lentils have begun to cook do the following: In a frying pan with 1/2 inch of oil brown the garlic and then add the bread and fry until brown. Remove garlic before it's too dark. Put browned bread and garlic into a mortar and grind to a paste. During the early part of cooking the lentils add the paste from the mortar to the lentils together with the oil that's left in the pan After about half an hour and before lentils are tender, add the diced or quartered potatoes, salt and finish cooking until all is tender. Check and correct salt and a dash of vinegar before serving. Source: A cook friend from Mallorca. *************************************** LENTIL & VEGETABLE SOUP Ingredients: lentils - 250 grams (slightly over 1 cup) garlic - one whole head onion - 1 large - quartered Kasseler smoked pork chop - 1 large (or 250 grams other smoked pork or bacon) ham or pork bone as for making stock 4 medium carrots - sliced into coins 2 stalks celery - diced 5 medium potatoes - peeled and cut into 8ths 6 flowerettes of cauliflower green beans - handful sliced tomato puré - small 4 oz tin olive oil - 4 TBS fresh garden herbs: 1 bay leaf, several sprigs thyme, Italian flatleaf parsley 2 or 3 sprigs chicken stock 1 liter (4 cups) or water and 3 Knorr chicken stock cubes salt & fesh ground pepper water to cook lentils vinegar - 1 teasp garlic croutons - optional garnish Method: 1) Turn on oven to 350F. Put lentils in large heavy bottomed stew pot with water to cover plus about 2 inches, bring to boil and simmer 45 minutes. Check water level and add more as needed. 2) Meanwhile put whole head of garlic into shallow baking pan together with quartered onion, Kasseler or smoked pork and ham or pork bone, drizzle with olive oil and roast in oven at medium heat about 45 minutes. 3) Remove baking tray from oven when all is nicely browned and cut meat into small dice and add to lentil pot along with onion. Squeeze garlic from skin into lentil pot, adding ham/pork bone along with oil and juices scraped from roasting pan. 4) Add rest of vegetables to lentils, chicken stock (or water and stock cubes), tomato puré, fresh herbs and bay leaf, parsley - reserving one sprig, fresh ground pepper. Bring to boil and simmer about 1 hour until vegetables are done, adding more water if needed. 5) When vegetables are tender, remove ham/pork bones and any bare thyme stems from pot, check for flavour and add salt as needed. Add vinegar and stir. 6) Serve with a bit of chopped parsley and more fresh ground pepper. Homemade garlic croutons are also nice as a garnish. Source: Recipe as I learned from a Mallorquin housewife years ago. ******************************* Lentil Purée Convert leftover stewed lentils into a delicious purée by putting them into a food processor and adding the following: 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth 2 lg cloves of garlic crushed and browned in 1/4 cup oil in small frypan 2 slices brown bread broken in small pieces and fried in the garlicky oil until brown Processed the above until smooth and then heat it gently. Dice more pieces of brown bread and toasted them in the frying pan with oil and garlic salt for the croutons. SharonCb

All great help! I used a bit of everyone's advice and wound up with 3 burners going with beans! I cooked the 3 kinds of lentils separately along with some other smaller grains I can't name or say. The red lentils were split and disappeared during cooking. The adzuki beans were cooked separately because I was afraid they would turn everything pink (rightfully so!)and they were an in-between size. The other small red beans, garbanzo and navy beans were cooked together and kept their color. I froze most of them and used one batch of larger beans in soup and tried to make a cold salad out of the lentils, smaller beans and grains. Overnight, they became too salty! Am adding more cooked beans to them to dilute the salt. I added pressed garlic, chopped sweet onion, vinegar, lemon juice, oil and herbs but I'm not impressed yet. I'll have to keep working on getting the taste balanced better. If you have a favorite dressing for a cold bean salad like this, please share!