Red lentils: the dried bean for beginners

Dried beans can be scary, what with all that sorting and boiling and draining and salting, but red lentils are a great place to begin. They are the convenience food of dried beans--no soaking and they are done within 30 minutes.

If you like apricots, this is the first red lentil recipe I would introduce you to--a red lentil apricot soup. It comes from a fun cookbook The Soup Peddler's slow and difficult Soups that you will want to read if you love soup, bicycles, and at least the idea of Austin, Texas. David Ansel, writer and Soup Peddler, began selling soup in Austin, and the best part is that he delivered the soup by bike (which is what "slow and difficult" refers to). Family and friends, you are welcome to borrow my copy, but don't keep it too long because I will miss it.

Back to the soup: I am always amazed at how much my children love this soup. It is also a satisfying soup to make.The whole truly is greater than its simple parts. It feels a little bit like magic.

The monkeys are dead. And we're back.

When I saw this article in the New York Times, I knew it was time to get back to this food blog. For some time (since the 1980s) some researchers (all Puritans) have thought that severe calorie restriction would increase longevity. Such researchers (and other rich people) became scientifically anorexic in hopes that they would live longer. Now, it turns out, it just ain't true. The super skinny rhesus monkeys did not live longer than the normal weight monkeys (which caused named scientists much grief at the thought of all those forgone croissants). Certainly it isn't an invitation for gluttony, but if we get to eat, let's enjoy it!