Chicken Vegetable Soup

I'm sure I'm not the only one craving a hearty chicken vegetable soup right now. Watching the snow fall outside my window makes it even more appealing. This recipe is [almost] the one my mother shared with us.

Ingredients

1. 1 (3-4 pound) whole chicken
2. 6 med.-large carrots, cut in 1" pieces
   
3. 6 stalks celery,cut into 1" pieces
   
4. 2 medium onions, chopped into 1/4-1/2" pieces
   
5. 1 gal. cold, filtered water
6. 1 dried cayenne pepper
7. 1 med. - large clove garlic, crushed
   
8. 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
9. 1/4 lb. fresh spinach, shredded (sliced into 1/4" slices)*
   
10. sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

• Put the chicken, with the cayenne, garlic, half the carrots, 1/2 the celery and 1/2 the onion, in a large soup pot and cover with cold water.
  
• Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a low simmer, uncovered, until the chicken meat begins to fall off of the bone (skim off foam every so often).
• Take everything out of the pot. Strain the broth. Season the broth with salt, and pepper to taste.
• Bone the chicken and chop into bite size pieces.
  
• Return the chicken meat, with all the carrots, celery, and onion to the pot, stir together, and simmer an additional 15 minutes ('til the newly added vegetables are al dente).
• Add parsley and stir through.
  
• Place about 2 Tbl. of shredded spinach in the bottom of soup bowl, and ladle 1 steaming serving of soup over it.

Yield

About 10 servings.

* To "shred" the spinach, roll the leaves together like a cigar, and slice in approximately 1/4" slices.