Lemony Chicken and kale Soup

Lemony Chicken and Kale Soup

Ingredients:
-1 whole organic 3-4 lb chicken
-1 tbsp coconut oil or butter
-1 onion, chopped
-6 carrots, diced
-6 stalks of celery, chopped
-4 cloves of garlic, minced
-salt and pepper to taste
-4 bay leaves
-3 tbsp herbs de provence (if you don't have herbs do provence use poultry seasoning)
-1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
-1 head of kale, stemmed and chopped
-zest and juice of 1 lemon

Directions:
Put your whole chicken in a large stock pot and fill to the top with water. If the chicken came with the giblets, chuck those in there too. Just remember to remove them before service. Alternately, you can save them for stock. Add in about a tbsp of sea salt, some pepper and the bay leaves. Pop the lid on and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer until cooked through, about 30 minutes. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot and set aside until cool enough to handle. When the chicken is cool enough, shred it with your hands. In the mean time, prepare all your veg. In a separate saute pan, sweat your onions and garlic in the coconut oil or butter over medium heat until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add in your carrots and celery and saute another 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add your herbs de provence and nutmeg to the pan and cook for an additional 2 minutes to wake up the herbs. Add all of your sauteed veg to the huge pot of water you cooked your chicken in and bring to a boil. Add in your shredded chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste. At this point you can let it cook for as long as you like. Or, you can add in your kale and lemon zest. If you choose to add in the kale and lemon zest at this time, cook for 15 minutes. Add in the juice of the lemon at the end and serve!

*Note- I only add in about half of the shredded chicken. I think it's more than enough. I like to save the other half for salads or to put in a wrap made with ezekial tortillas. Shredded chicken is so versatile!

Now you have a lovely chicken carcass with which you can make a flavorful and nutritious homemade stock!

*P.S. please use all organic ingredients when possible