1 or 2 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves (depending on how much chicken you want in your soup)
½ large onion, peeled
1 Tablespoon additive-free kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
A few peppercorns, crushed
A few garlic cloves, crushed
2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
½ large onion, diced
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded (if you don’t want too much heat) and diced (optional)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
8 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 teaspoons sea salt (double this if you use unsalted stock)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup pico de gallo (fresh tomato salsa)
1-2 avocados, peeled and cut into chunks or guacamole
1 lime, cut into 6 wedges (my favorite part!)
Other possible add-ins: tortilla chips, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese
Instructions
Poach the chicken: Place the chicken breast, onion half (halved again), salt, pepper and garlic into a medium saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil over high heat and lower heat to a simmer. Simmer chicken for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and allow chicken to sit in the liquid until cool enough to handle.
In a large pot, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, scallions, carrots, celery and jalapeno. Sauté until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and cook for 1 minute.
Add the chicken stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until carrots are tender, about 4-5 minutes.
Pull chicken from liquid and remove skin and bones. Shred chicken into bite-size pieces. You can divide chicken amongst the 6 individual bowls or add it all to the pot.
Put a heaping spoonful of pico de gallo and avocado chunks/guacamole in each individual bowl and ladle soup on top. Squeeze lime on top and sprinkle with corn tortilla chips and fresh cilantro, if desired.
Recipe by Pamela Salzman at https://pamelasalzman.com/chicken-and-avocado-soup/