I've been eating a lot of red lentils lately. The kind which I've been buying are masoor dal, red split lentils.

I find that they work well just about anywhere I'd want to use beans, green lentils, or mashed potatoes.

That last might seem strange, so I'll explain. I accidentally overcooked some pots of red lentils a few times. The browned bits from the bottom of the pot tasted very much like my family's German potato pancakes. So, I tried cooking some batches to the same consistency and with the same spices as mashed potatoes, and it turned out great.

I've also had success using them as the primary protein in a stew with diced tomatoes and mixed vegetables.

They cook so fast that I can throw them in at the beginning with whatever else using the other ingredients' cooking times and just have the lentils "come along for the ride."

Haven't had any real failures yet. Just put some oil, salt, and spices in a pot, add lentils and other ingredients. Add twice the mass of water as lentils+other dry ingredients for a pilaf consistency, more for a stew. Cook for 20 minutes plus whatever time it takes to reduce to the desired consistency.

That sort of recipe is so easy and works so well with dry or otherwise shelf-stable ingredients that I'll probably be using this for emergency and camping food in the future.