Lentil Soup with and without ham bone

I have made this lentil soup before: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lentil-soup-recipe/index.html

and it was great. I think I included sausage last time too and swapped chicken for vege broth.

With Ham bone (4/28/2010):

So I used the same recipe but replaced the chicken broth with broth from boiling a ham bone for a few hours.

The result: bland. The ham bone (from a ham shank) was not enough flavor to spread over 2 quarts. There was still some meat on it too, but that didn't make enough difference.

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Without ham bone (10/25/2010):

I made this recipe again tonight, but used leftover black bean broth from cooking black beans (salted with garlic) combined with beef broth instead of the 2 qts of chicken broth the recipe calls for. I also added 1/4 lb hot bulk sausage, which I would increase to 1/2 lb next time. It turned out extremely flavorful, if a bit salty. (I'd forgotten the bean broth was already salted.) But it was the best version of lentil soup I've made so far.