Red Lentils?

[redchair]

I bought some red lentils because the color is so lovely (to go with a nice onglet and brussels sprouts cooked with mustard seeds and lemon zest), but now I'm wondering if there is any difference between cooking red lentils and the usual green or brown. Any suggestions would be welcome.

[MikeG]

First off, they turn a sort of tan-yellow when you cook them, so you may need to adjust your color scheme a little..

Assuming these are split (otherwise, they'd look brown), they will cook even faster than whole lentils. I can't say I've ever heard of eating them "whole", so you'll have to experiment with cooking times, keeping them "solid" while being edible is going to take some fairly fancy timing.

[coll]

I like to add them to rhubarb with curry flavoring. The consistancy would be like a thick applesauce, and preparation similar in method and time to applesauce.

[FlavoursGal]

I use red lentils as a thickener in stews, braises, and soups. Just throw some in at the start of cooking and they melt away, leaving behind a flavourful, healthy and, best of all, automatically thickened sauce or soup.

[bolivianita]

They make a wonderful soup with a split pea sort of consistency.

[eamcd]

They are used a lot in Indian cooking. With seasonings, they can make a really flavorful puree-type side dish, or wonderful soups. They are more yellow-orange when cooked.

[redchair]

Thanks, Bill. You saved me from a dinner party disaster.

[Bill on Capitol Hill]

Red lentils cook much faster than the other varieties and don't hold their shape as well, turning into almost a homogeneous mush.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing. They're also milder in taste -- almost a blank slate for creative spicing and whatnot. Back in my low-fat days I used them as a base for chili-like stews with varying contents, sometimes traditional, sometimes Cincinnati, sometimes tomatoey almost to a spaghetti-sauce degree, sometimes even like a green chile.