Chicken Soup

Directions

1. 1
   Heat olive oil and butter in a large soup pot. Place chicken in the pot and allow to sear for a minute or so on each side. Add a little water if necessary to prevent the chicken from burning.
2. 2
   Add chopped onion and cook for several minutes, moving the chicken around, again adding a little water to prevent burning.
3. 3
   Add the rest of the vegetables, and then add enough water to cover the chicken (about 10 cups). Bring to a boil, skim any foam that rises to the top, and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 50 minutes-1 hour.
4. 4
   Turn off heat. Carefully remove the chicken and allow to cool in a separate bowl.
5. 5
   If you are going to be serving all of the soup right away, you'll want to remove the meat from the chicken bones, chop or shred it, and add it back into the soup (make sure you don't burn yourself).
6. 6
   Sprinkle with course sea salt and freshly ground pepper before serving; you might also want to add some finely chopped greens such as kale (the heat will wilt them down) and/or green onions before serving.
7. 7
   If you are eating just some of the soup right away, I suggest taking the meat off the chicken and then storing it in the refrigerator to add back into individual servings of soup. You can also reserve some of the chicken for another use, like chicken salad.
8. 8
   One last tip: Do not discard your picked over chicken bones; keep them in the freezer so that you can make chicken stock.