Rinsing and Sorting Lentils: Do I Really Have To Do That?

There are certain labor-intensive recipe phrases that can make the most diligent cook roll her eyes. "Do I really have to do that?" we wonder. Every week, we will track down the answer to that question. Why? Because as much as we love cooking, we're kind of lazy. Leave your Do I Really Have To Do That? questions in the comments and they shall be answered, saving us all a lot of needless trouble.

This week's question is for all the vegetarians, vegans, and legume-lovers in the house. Do we really have to rinse and sort lentils? We took to the Internet, the source of all Truth, to talk to our cook friends on the Twitter. The conversation was kind of funny.

Related: Veggie burgers that don't taste like cardboard

Two-thirds of our hugely expansive and very scientific test pool say they don't sort, while one is a model of Girl Scouts-like caution and preparedness. This one ultimately comes down to how much of a gambler you are. Chances are you won't find anything. But do you believe in better safe than sorry? Or do you like to live on the edge, like the wild, beast of nature, deeply lazy lentil-eater that you are?

Final verdict: Choose your own adventure. The odds are low you'll turn up anything out of order in your lentils, but it only takes one batch of stone soup to make you a sorter for life.

Tweet your lazy cook questions to us @YahooShine #doireallyhavetodothat or leave them in the comments.

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Do I really have to rinse quinoa?
Do I really have to truss a chicken?
Do I really have to hand-wash my good knives?