Lentils have been researched as "THE" food to consume to reduce risk of breast cancer.

When I was growing up in Queens, NY, this soup was a mainstay in our home. It's easy to prepare and can be served in a variety of ways, either as a soup before an entree or as a main meal. I could easily live on this soup, and when hubby is away visiting relatives in Ireland, I eat this day after day.Make a big pot and there it is - for breakfast, lunch and, maybe, dinner, too.

16 oz of dried lentil beans, rinsed
1 small onion, chopped
1 small can (8 oz) salt free tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Besides a soup pot, keep another pot of boiling water on the stove. You'll see why!!
Place beans in large soup pot. Cover the beans with cold water JUST till beans are covered. Bring the beans to a low boil. In other pot, boil hot water. As the beans absorb the water, ladel more hot water over the lentils, again just to cover the beans. Bring the beans to a low but steady simmer, adding the very hot water as needed.

Saute the onion in either a little water or white wine till soft. Add the onions to the lentils. Stir well and then add the can of tomato sauce. Keep adding the hot water over the lentils till lentils are well cooked. Season soup with salt and pepper.

Serving the lentils:

Our family would prepare long spaghetti that had been cut in 4 pieces. When draining the pasta, retain some of the pasta water in bottom of pasta pot. Ladel the lentil soup over the pasta and serve.

You can enjoy this without pasta, just plain hearty soup with side salad and warm grain bread. Many times I add chopped kale to the simmering soup. Other lentil recipes include chopped carrots and celery. Be creative and let us know what works for you. My mother always added loads of salt in all her soup and pasta dishes. I admit they tasted great, but I don't do that for health reasons, just lightly season to taste.