Recipe for Split Pea Soup with Ham, Bay Leaves, Epazote and Red Bell Pepper (or Carrots)

Split Pea Soup with Ham, Bay Leaves, Epazote, and Red Bell Pepper is delightfully Phase One.

(Today's pick for the month of  Daily Phase One Recipes (as well as Phase One Fridays) is this favorite Split Pea Soup with Ham, Bay Leaves, Epazote, and Red Bell Pepper that's one of the soups I've been thinking about trying in the new electric pressure cooker I got for Christmas.  You can see all the recipes from the month by clicking Daily Phase One Recipes.  Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

I've been a long-time fan of split pea soup, but I always made it with carrots until I tried this experiment of replacing the carrots with sweet red bell peppers, for a split pea soup that's not only delicious and colorful but also a Phase One recipe for the South Beach Diet.  Score!  I used a fairly generous amount of ham and red bell peppers in proportion to the split peas, so you can have this for Phase One, even though split peas and lentils are a limited food.  Of course if you're just craving split pea soup and don't care about Phase One, go ahead and make it with carrots if you prefer.

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