Hearty Lentil and Ham Soup

I bought a ham before the retreat so my husband would certainly be able to feed the girls while I was gone. However, secretly I bought the ham, actually any ham, to make this recipe. I love it. LOVE it. It's an easy recipe to prepare. It tastes great. To me, it's so tasty that I don't care if the girlios don't like it. They can have a sandwich. More soup for me.

Unfortunately, they've come to like it, and I have to share. Bummer. I only put in one large onion because although onion flavor is not objectionable, onion pieces cause whining at the table. If I were cooking just for myself, I'd add them all. A perfect winter soup.

Hearty Lentil & Ham Soup
from epicurious.com

Ingredients:
1 leftover smoked ham bone or 2 smoked ham hocks
1 pound lentils (about 2.5 cups), picked over and rinsed
0.5 pounds mushrooms, chopped (about 3.5 cups)
3 onions, chopped coursely
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
3.5 cups beef broth
8 cups water

Preparation
In 6-to-8-quart kettle combine all ingredients and simmer soup, covered partially, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 hours. Discard bay leaf and cinnamon stick and remove meat from bone and hocks. Chop meat and stir into soup.

Makes about 3 1/2 quarts. It freezes well.

All ingredients in the pot

A couple hours later, all done

 Enough for at least 2 family meals