Emil Wallace, age 13, of Phoenix, Ariz., for his question:

ARE LENTILS VERY NUTRITIOUS?

Lentil is an ancient food plant that belongs to the leguminous family of plants. Its long fruits or pods look like those of the pea and bean. The lentil is among the most nutritious of all the legumes.

Lentils are rich in protein and carbohydrates. As a table food, the lentil is not as common in the United States as it is in many other parts of the world. It is used usually in soups and casseroles.

The seeds of the lentil are the part used as food. They are red brown, gray or black and never grow more than a half inch in diameter.

Lentil seeds are shaped like a lens. In fact, the lens itself was so named because it looked like a lentil seed.

Lentil plants grow in the United States and Canada, Egypt, southern Europe and western Asia.

The lentil is one of the world's first cultivated food plants. It has been grown in gardens since about 2200 B.C