cold days, warm innards

My big sis sent me this recipe a while back. Still not sure why, since the only meat I eat is fish, but she meant well. So for those of you who do eat meat, this might be good on a very cold winter's day.

Chicken tortilla soup

1 to 2 cans of chicken broth
1 to cans of water
your favorite salsa
dash of cumin
1 or 2 c of shredded chicken breast

Okay, first editorial notes. On the handwritten copy, she put in a parenthetical note following the chicken breast: (omit). Um, hon? "I don't eat meat" also includes chicken broth. Just because it's not a solid... I'm also amused at the vagueness in quantities here, but I guess it's not quite like baking, with soup sometimes you can be a little more variable. I'll add the recipe writer's all purpose excuse: all of the above "to taste." I'd definitely go much higher on the cumin.

On medium heat, bring these ingredients to a boil. In the meantime, take 6-8 flour tortillas.

Okay, second editorial aside. Did I mention my sister lives in the midwest? Maybe tortillas don't come in more than one size there. For the moment, I'm voting for the taco size, not big burrito size, but I could be wrong about that. I still haven't figured out a way to make this vegetarian and not just have some sort of hot gazpacho.

Cut tortillas into thin strips. Over medium heat in a skillet with 1/2" or so of cooking oil, fry the tortilla strips til crispy. Let them drain on paper toweling and sprinkle with paprika. (Really? Okay.) When soup is heated through, pour into serving bowls and add mozzarella cheese & tortilla strips.

Okay, last editorial comment. I'd obviously never read past the (omit) in the first paragraph because this  last bit I would have remembered. Mozza? Paprika? Dear heavens. Well, on-the-fly transcription occasionally results in surprises!

So that's what passes for Mexican food in the midwest. Remind me to avoid it next time I'm there. And if you do eat chicken and want to give this a shot, let me know how it goes. I've done weirder combinations that worked out all right in the end.