Wingin' it...

In theory, I'm a creative person.  I mean, I like the idea of being the "artsy" type.  I have been told I look the part (I guess people assume lots of tattoos = some kind of artistic talent?), but the truth is I am pretty talentless in that area.  I can't sing, I can't draw, and beyond a few years of middle-school flute playing, my creative outlets consist of two things:  making candles and cooking. 

The irony is that both of those outlets are really less about being creative and more about chemistry and following instructions.  I am great at following recipes... just like I am great at doing paint-by-numbers.  My creativity is BOUNDLESS!  (As long as I am told exactly what to do...)

So, this brings me to last night's dinner.  After a few days off from cooking (I was sick) I was back in the saddle.  My grocery list was made and I was going to whip up the "Poblano Chile-Cheese Enchiladas" from my recently purchased Vegetarian Times "Healing Foods Cookbook."  Chiles, according to the cookbook, have anti-inflammatory properties - great news for those of who suffer from migraines. 

I arrived at my local Whole Foods, list in hand, ready to roll.  I was pretty familiar with everything on the list, except for one obscure ingredient - "2 1/2 oz. dried New Mexican chiles."  Thankfully, I was accompanied on this shopping trip by a friend who is what I would consider to be an expert on all things chile.  After some discussion, she knew what it was we were looking for.  We walked the aisles for a while in search of this mystery ingredient.  Nothing in produce.  Nothing in the spice aisle.  Finally we asked the girl making about 8 pounds of guacamole in the produce aisle where we could find these dried chiles.  In the end, we were out of luck.  There were no dried chiles to be found.

At this point, I had been running around all day and did not want to go to another grocery store in search of the elusive dried chiles.  Instead, I opted to spread my creative wings... and wing it.  In lieu of dried chiles, I bought three green Anaheim chiles.  Instead of drying them, I roasted them in the oven, chopped them up and added them when the dried chiles were called for in the recipe.  My biggest fear was that the red tomatoes + the green chiles would = some kind of enchilada sauce that was reminiscent of the contents of an infant's diaper (red + green = brown, right?).  Thankfully it ended up as an orangey kind of sauce that was pretty delish.  I also topped the whole thing with some extra shredded monterey jack and some chopped cilantro, and covered the whole thing with foil prior to putting it in the oven.

These enchiladas were STUPENDOUS.  The real test is whether or not my carnivorous husband will eat whatever vegetarian concoctions I come up with.  Prior to eating this he said "I hope there's some chicken in here..." After trying them, I didn't hear a word until the plate was wiped clean.