Chicken Soup

This is a simple and delicious chicken soup that great for a rainy day!  You can switch out the lemon for another acid like white wine or apple cider vinegar, just use what you have on hand.  I will sometimes add ginger or lemongrass if I'm feeling under-the-weather.

Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 - 6 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on or 3-4 chicken leg quarters
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lemon, halved
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 3-4 sprigs of thyme
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Serves 6-8
Cook Time: 1 hour

Heat a Dutch oven over medium to medium-high heat, add olive oil and sear chicken on both sides starting with the skin side.  When chicken is golden brown remove and set aside.
Sauté aromatics until softened.  Add a splash of apple cider vinegar to deglaze.  Add chicken stock and water, if necessary, scraping any bits off the bottom of the Dutch oven.  Add thyme.
Return chicken to the pot and bring to a simmer.  Remove chicken when it is cooked through and shred once cooled.
Add shredded chicken back to pot, remove thyme sprigs and serve.
*To elevate this simple soup add fresh grated ginger to the aromatics, this is especially great if you are making chicken soup for it's curative properties.  Also, turnips, rutabagas, or parsnips are good to add with the other vegetables.  Instead of apple cider vinegar, you could deglaze with a 1/4 cup to a 1/2 a cup of dry white wine, such as chardonnay.  You could also add grated lemongrass with the thyme.