Plantbased

I mean, I don't think you have to rush eating red lentils. They should stay good for a long time.

But I routinely throw red lentils into tomato sauce as a pseudo-bolognese. Lentil curry works quite well. And I've found that cooking lentils for a longer time in salt water will make them taste a bit like egg, which could probably be fun in a salad.

In my home region (Southern Germany), we also make a dish with lentils + noodles + roux. Typically, we'd use brown lentils and specific noodles, which are more doughy than the typical Italian pasta, but it'll probably still taste half-decent, just because of the roux.

You might try looking for an Egyptian lentil soup recipe. I have never made one myself but there’s an Egyptian restaurant near me that makes an incredibly delicious lentil soup. Very hearty, rich, and comforting. Typically the only meat-based ingredient is a chicken stock which you can easily substitute for vegetable and mushroom stocks!

I love lentil stews with potatoes. Something like a sieglinde potato that will hold together well. That with a few copped carrots? Delicious.

https://cookinglsl.com/easy-instant-pot-lentil-soup-with-potatoes

Brown lentils work the best, but you can work red lentils into a meatloaf type dish.

I tend to buy more than I should, so I do patties or savoury pancakes.

I don’t have a specific recipe. I just search for one every time like a savage haha

If you've got some root veggies handy, and ideally some bones left over from a roast to make stock, then you can do worse than making yourself some lentil soup. Ate so much of this growing up, it's amazing.

https://scottishscran.com/scottish-lentil-soup-recipe/

With a gravy packet (usually contain dairy) to provide meatyness I've had some luck making taco filling. You can add them to any variety of hearty soups as well, since they're so similar to beans, although I haven't really found one I love.

There's also a slightly different lentil dish I make sometimes, albeit still Indian-inspired. I basically just add cooked carrots and lentils to a sauteed onion with tomato sauce and curry powder, and then serve with rice. It's quick and doesn't need anything non-perishable if you use cans.