Recipe of the Week - Lentil Soup

I discovered this recipe for lentil soup a few years ago (when I was following the Perricone Promise) and have been tweaking it to our liking ever since. According to Dr. Perricone, Lentils are one of the 10 best foods you can eat. The others include:

Açaí

The Allium Family (garlic, shallots, onions, etc)

Barley (make barley instead of white or brown rice)

Beans and Lentils

Buckwheat

Green Foods

Hot Peppers

Nuts and Seeds

Sprouts

Yogurt and Kefir

I made lentil soup over the summer (while we were in the states) with a left over honey baked ham and something about the honey glaze made it really good. My recommended tweaks: Use a whole bulb of crushed garlic, omit vinegar, basil and oregano. I use white pepper, black pepper and salt to taste. And, instead of just 8 c water, I use either veg broth or chicken broth. You can also halve the liquid and serve it as a side dish (I like to add some yellow curry when I do this). Let me know if you try it...especially if you change the recipe, I'd love to hear your tweaks.