Among the world's oldest cultivated foods, lentils are also some of the most digestible legumes. The lentil comes in colors ranging from orange to pink to grayish green. Lentil pods grow on viny, green plants with long, thin leaves. Lentils probably first appeared in northeastern Iraq . At Qalat Jarmo, Iraq, archaeologists have found lentils nearly 9000 years old. Sites in Greece and Turkey have also yielded up ancient lentils.

The Egyptians were big lentil eaters as early as 5000 years ago. An offering of mashed lentils was found in an Egyptian tomb. The Egyptians were lentil traders as well and probably introduced them to both the Greeks and the Romans. At the beginning of the first century AD, 2.8 million pounds of Egyptian red lentils-the packing peanut of the era-- cushioned a carved stone obelisk traveling from Egypt to Rome. The monument still stands in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, but the lentils that protected it have long since been eaten.

Lentil soup, a remarkably healthy dish, has been a French favorite for centuries. Originally a food of the poor, the tiny legume is packed with protein, fiber, iron and potassium The French may have brought lentils to the northern Americas. The Iroquois Indians of the St. Lawrence Valley grew them in abundance from the early 1700's on.

India grows more than half the world's supply of lentils-about 800,000 tons per year-and eats it all, importing more from Turkey. Canada and Australia are important lentil exporters.