Martha's Lentil Soup

I've had a bag of lentils sitting in the cupboard for quite some time and decided it was time to finally use them up. Being a fan of lentil soup, I decided to try the lentil soup recipe from the March 2005 issue of Everyday Food. While this recipe wasn't the best lentil soup I've ever had, it was a nice filling meal. The recipe makes a good base to expand on and next time I'll add some more flavor and make it a little more spicy, which is how I like my lentil soup. Since Monday's are meatless in our kitchen, I omitted the bacon - which obviously would give the soup some more flavor, but not the overall flavor I think it was lacking.