Rick's Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

• 1 (1 pound) bag split peas
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped (be liberal with the red pepper because they’re sweet)
• 1/2 pound ham, finely chopped (I use low-fat turkey ham)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• Dash cayenne pepper
• Fresh ground pepper, to taste (white pepper can be substituted)
• Salt, to taste (the ham has salt too so be careful and season to taste)
• 2 (14-½ ounce) cans favorite broth (or 4 boullion cubes and 4 cups of H2O)