Nutritional Information:

This food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Iron, Phosphorus and Manganese, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber and Folate.

Storage Information:

Preparing the beans: One cup of dry beans makes four average servings, either in a bean dish or in a soup. Spread out the measured beans so that you can poke through them pick out any extraneous materials, especially any small pebbles. Unless the beans are unusually dirty, they'll need just one rinsing to remove storage dust. Cover the beans in a pot or pan with water, stir them around by hand and pour the water off. Now the beans are ready for soaking or cooking.

Soaking the beans: Beans absorb water rather reluctantly. Soaking them in water before cooking reduces the cooking time by 30 min. if simmering, and by 5 min. if pressure cooking. Also it seems good to give the beans several hours to get used to the water before the heat is turned on. Have water cover the beans by a couple of inches when soaking starts. The beans can be soaked overnight or during the day, 6-8 hours or longer. In very hot weather keep the soaking beans in a cool place or they will tend to sour.

Simple From Scratch:

Quick and easy Red Lentil main dish

Rinse, then soak the lentils for 8-12 hours or so (overnight) changing the water 3-4 times (which helps remove the foam that may build up otherwise). They will swell up considerably so take this into consideration when figuring amounts.

These lentils will cook quickly even without presoaking but all legumes are more digestible when presoaked with the soaking water discarded. They will foam less too.

Drain, add fresh water to cover the lentils by 2-3 fingerwidths.

Add 1-2 bay leaf, chopped celery, onion, potatoes.

Bring to a boil, then simmer until done, about 20 minutes spooning off any foam that develops.

Add salt, pepper, paprika, pinch of red pepper if desired.

Serve plain or with hot sauce or soy sauce.

The Latin-style, delicious and easy way to have them is:

Soak a few hours, then cook in salted water 15-20 mins: so they are cooked through but not mushy. (Personally, I rarely achieve that and then you might need to be Latin! but it tastes good anyway.) Then sauté finely chopped onion in a pan with olive oil, cumin powder, and paprika. Pour the dressing over the drained lentils and enjoy.

They are also excellent baked in a stew in the oven with potatoes, carrots, celeriac, sliced beets, beet greens, etc. Again pre-soak, parboil, then combine with veggies and a few Tblsp water and bake at 350 for about 40 mins.

Red Lentils with Indian spices

Prepare and put on stove same as above.  As lentils are cooking, Stir fry in ghee or olive oil: chopped onions, garlic. Add crushed cumin and coriander seeds (or ground cumin and coriander), and turmeric.

Add to lentils while they are still cooking, along with grated ginger, salt and pepper.