I did not cook the lentils separately. I sauteed onion etc in the instant pot, then added everything except lime juice and cilantro and pressure cooked for 3 minutes, releasing after about 7 minutes. I didn't have fire roasted tomatoes, so I used plain diced and added a teaspoon of smoked paprika. Mine needed salt, which surely depends on the broth used. It could stand to have the spice kicked up, but first I'd like to try as written with fire roasted tomatoes and cilantro. This is a lovely comforting soup. ETA: this was plenty of liquid for eating the stew right away, but the lentils continued to absorb liquid and I had to add a bit of water when reheating leftovers. ETA: fire roasted tomatoes definitely improve this, but I'll probably still kick up the heat in future batches. 2 additional cups of water is about as much as I'm willing to add based on texture and viscosity straight from the pot. It still thickens up a lot and can use a little water added to leftovers.
