1.5 cups dry El Sembrador lentils, 1/2 cup each frozen chopped spinach and broccoli crowns 1 cup frozen chopped spinach, 1 cup Liberty Creek merlot, 2 cups water, a couple splashes of olive oil and a couple dashes of lite salt. Simmer medium-low 20 minutes.

Not sure whether it was the absence of broccoli or a weakness of the wine or a shortage of salt, but this didn't come out all that flavorful. The mild nutty flavor of lentils dominates. Perfectly edible but not something I'd serve to impress guests.

I've missed wine, and yerba maté. Liberty Creek wouldn't be my first pick of merlots, after a side-by-side comparison with the Little Penguin or vague recollections of similar-class labels like Barefoot, Sutter Home et al. But it's nice enough, and it's like twice as much wine for the price.