Lentils

For Kishan Singh, life began in 1981, when he arrived in the United States from northern India and worked at Windows of the World, on the 107th floor of Manhattan's World Trade Center. As a busboy he was only on the first level of his chosen profession, but he liked the view. And it was apparent his supervisors liked what they saw, because it wasn't long before Singh became a waiter. And when he left Windows, in 1988, he had been promoted to captain. "I liked the business very much and then opened my first restaurant, in Albany.

Since we first raved a few months ago about how quickly red lentils cook, we've received several letters from readers who love them. "Red lentils are a great addition to the Desperate pantry," they say, "only now we need some new recipes. " The good news is that you can substitute red for brown lentils in your own recipes for salads, soups or stews, so long as you take into consideration the shorter cooking time. The red lentil cooks to perfection in just nine to 10 minutes because it's a little smaller than a brown lentil and doesn't have an outer layer, called a seed coat.

Yo, Chefs! I had the best lentil soup at Ozzie's. Would you get me the recipe? Diana D'Angelo Philadelphia Dear Diana, The recipe follows, but first a few words about Ozzie Gallelli, the owner/chef for 22 years at Ozzie's Trattoria, in South Philadelphia. Gallelli and his cousin, Toto Schiavone, owner of DiLullo's, came over from Calabria, in southern Italy, to work at the old Pavio's in the Northeast. Gallelli started out as a busboy. Even though he now owns his own place, he's still a hands-on cook.

If you're looking for a hearty but low-fat lunch, try lentils. They're a modern miracle health food as old as the hills. Probably the first cultivated legumes, lentils have been grown for food since 7000 B.C., according to food historians. Lentils are the most digestible of all the legumes, and the easiest to prepare. Unlike most beans, lentils don't have to be soaked, and can be cooked, from scratch, in just 15 to 20 minutes. Health benefits abound. Just one cup of cooked lentils provides 232 calories, 18 grams of protein, 40 grams of carbohydrate, and only a trace of fat and sodium.

Feeding a crowd doesn't have to mean hours of shopping, prepping and cooking. Just last week, I invited 10 people for a birthday supper. Everyone loved the food. All the dishes were prepared ahead of time and arranged on platters. By meal time, I was cool as a cucumber and the kitchen was as neat as a pin. If time and weather conditions require that the dishes be refrigerated, make sure to bring them to room temperature before serving. Refrigeration can flatten flavors, so taste each dish and add more seasonings if needed.

On the day before Thanksgiving, virtually everyone in America is focused on the great traditional feast to come, when it's almost a patriotic duty to eat too much of our updated versions of the Pilgrims' foods. But if you're in the mood for a complete change of pace, here's a simple, very basic kind of Thanksgiving eve alternative to the elaborate holiday fare. This month's four-person menu consists of soup, salad, bread and candied fruit, all made from supermarket ingredients - except for the red wine - and generally easy to prepare.

Leg of pork can be trimmed so that there's very little fat. And the salt in hams that have been cured can be balanced by using unsalted accompaniments. Still, pork and roast ham remain on most nutritionists' "out" lists. Not only are they singled out as heart-health no-nos, they are also quite expensive - if, that is, you get a ham worth bothering with. Fortunately for ham lovers, health and the pocketbook can be addressed by using small amounts of ham for flavoring. And you can get those small amounts from butchers' leftovers, also known as ends.

The Greeks are philosophic about nearly everything, including their food. Dining in Greece is both worldly and spiritual, and frequently a culinary excursion into the fields of art and science. Rosemary Barron, a long-time student of the culture and a teacher and lecturer on the country's cuisine, does an excellent job of capturing the Greek love affair with food in Flavors of Greece (William Morrow, $25). Her book takes you from the ancient gardens of Crete to the tiny tavernas scattered about today's countryside.

A best bet for beginning bean-eaters is the little lentil - Mother Nature's "quick-cook" bean. Lentils don't require the long soaking and slow- simmering that make other beans a plan-ahead project. The smallest of the dried beans, lentils look a little like flat split peas and are commonly available in the supermarket in pound bags. The most widely available kind are dull greenish-gray, although lentils do come in other colors, including the bright yellow and orange varieties favored in Eastern cuisines.

Consumer alert: America's lentil farmers may lose the rail line that handles most of their shipments. The Union Pacific Railroad is considering halting service to Whitman County, Wash., where 98 percent of the nation's lentils are grown. Since bad roads make truck transport far more expensive and the Union Pacific is the last rail line to serve the area, its departure would deprive the farmers of a cost-effective shipping method. It's too soon to say whether this will mean an increase in the price of lentils.