The main difference between the different sorts of lentils isn’t really the taste (they’re all vaguely the same if you ask me) but the cooking time.

As for lentil recipes, try to search for Indian recipes (those with lentils will probably have Dal somewhere in the name). There are loads of recipes for soups or curries.

I also like (make that love actually) a lentil salad, for example with salmon tatar (raw marinated salmon) or with gratinated goats cheese or with bits of browned bacon or really just on it’s own.

For a lentil salad, boil the lentils (without salt, that’s the most important thing to remember) until done (depends on the kind of lentils, the small red and black ones are done quickly, the bigger yellow one can take quite long and sometimes need to be watered over night first. What you want is soft but not mashed).
In the mean time chop some onions, add some garlic (to taste really), and make a salad sauce (vinegraitte) from a good olive oil, some decent balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and perhaps add some honey and some mustard (not too hot) or even better honey mustard (if you should have it).
Apply the vinaigrette to the still warm lentils, let them soak it up for a little while and then enjoy.
Sorry, all the links I could post you would be in German and I don’t have time for translations right now.

Well, I purchased some red lentils this morning, so will be trying them out later this week. We’ll see if they taste different.

Uh, okay.

So I’m thinking about finding out about them. I hate brown beans, can eat kidney beans (but now I have to make chili without chili powder) and other than that, I don’t have a clue.

Also, rice to me is not a side dish – I grew up on meat and potatoes so I would rather eat a potato over rice any day of the week.

And thank you for mentioning just how hard it is to keep salad in the house. Since I don’t have a fondness for the grocery store, I won’t go there every other day. I can send Bob though

And sorry, I don’t have any lentil recipes.

CindyS

However, I have made my own stir fry sauce fairly simply — adjust for quantity, but just a tablespoon or two of corn starch into roughly a 1/3 cup or so of broth (chicken, beef, or veggie broth), a couple tablespoons of soy sauce (I’ve been using reduced-sodium), and seasonings to taste — usually a bit of ginger, some garlic, some red pepper flakes or a splash of Dragon Sauce if I want it spicy, a splash of vinegar (preferably rice wine) if I want a bit of tang…pour into your skillet or wok after cooking up the veg and/or meat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then reduce heat and simmer until desired consistency (usually only takes a couple-three minutes).

You can also use part water and part juice in place of the broth (which is what I do when making sweet ‘n’ sour sauce).