Last week's Desperation Dinners! column:

Brown lentils are humble little legumes that often get overlooked for a desperate dinner. While it’s true you don’t have to soak them as you do other dried beans, brown lentils still take an hour to cook. That might rule out most of the possibilities they could offer a desperate cook. But what if the lentils were cooked already?
I use to cook the whole one-pound bag of brown lentils and freeze the extras in 1-cup increments for future use. (See Lots of Lentils recipe.) But my most recent find in the grocery is plain already-cooked brown lentils. They come in a package with about three cups of lentils ready to stir into any of your favorite lentil recipes.

I have seen these ready-to-use lentils at various Trader Joe’s stores and am waiting for them to appear in my local grocery chains, too. If you’re fortunate enough to have a Trader Joe’s, then by all means pick up a pack to enjoy. But if you’re still waiting for the store to come near you, cook up a full bag of brown lentils one day when you have an hour, and freeze them for later.
Either way, today’s recipe for Brown Lentils with Sautéed Veggies is equally delicious hot, served over rice, or cold or room temperature, served over salad. Top with plain Greek yogurt for a healthy, wonderful dinner that flies together in just 15 minutes.