A cupful of snow off the pavement might have worked on those lentils, John.    a pinch of salt helps no end.  Hard to go past a bowl of dahl soup, I was making it for two old ladies this Winter.  Once you get a bit old it's hard to cook and they end up eating all food prepared in commercial kitchens.  A nice bowl of homemade soup is very comforting to the digestive system.  Funny to think really that many people around the world who go hungry from lack of food nonetheless eat better quality food than those in a land of plenty.