You can create a mother-lode stash of soup ingredients, including dried vegetables, herbs, and beans, all sealed in handy portion- or pot-sized bags ... several hours to dry a batch of cut ...

Lentils make one of the most mesmerizing steamy pots of soup imaginable. But all that goodness doesn't come from just tossing a bag of dry lentils in a pot, adding water and spices, and bubbling ...