Decades ago we got our kids (now in their 40s) to eat lentils by pretending that the sauce we made for spaghetti was called "pulse bolognese." :-). I resurrected it last night for old times' sake. It's the easiest thing:

To make enough for three or four people you need 250g split red lentils, rinsed, don't bother soaking (dirt cheap!), an onion, a garlic clove, dried oregano (to taste: I like it), half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon (don't overdo it), a good knob of butter, 400 ml of veg stock (I make my own, so it's unsalted), a decent-quality tin of tomatoes (400g size), a glug of red wine and seasoning. All you do is sauté the chopped onion and garlic (don't mince it) in the butter for a few minutes then throw in everything else and simmer it for about 25 minutes. We had it with wholemeal spaghetti (we don't usually have that, but that's what we did in the olden days). Then we committed the mortal sin of piling the buttered spaghetti on the plate and just heaping the sauce on top, finishing with grated strong cheddar. All the things we used to do...

Begod it was good, and just think how healthy it is!