So for those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I gave up being a vegan.  I (mostly) made it through 2 whole weeks, people.

I understand that it’s healthier- that’s it’s better for me to have something like fruit and green tea and coconut yogurt for breakfast rather than, say, a cheese danish and coffee with whipped cream.

And I have made some changes, like eating fruit for breakfast and I’ve switched to rice milk instead of cow milk.  I’m also more inclined to choose vegan if I have the option.

The mentality is similar to what I had to overcome with being vegetarian.  I was a MEAT EATER, dammit, so if there was a vegetarian option, no way I was going to eat it, uh uh!!  I ate MEAT.

RAR.

Same thing with being vegan.  ”Vegans?” I thought.  ”They are CRAZY!  They don’t eat gouda or manchego or chevre or the amazing queso at Kerbey Lane.”  But I’ve gotten over that.  Veganism just SOUNDS crazy.  It’s not.  Think about simple but amazing Indian food- lentils with rice.  No cheese!  Or Thai dishes- that’s coconut milk.  It’s really not so bad and so I will stop calling them crazy.

As I eat stuff like this:

Chicken Enchiladas with Creamy Green Chile Sauce. (Stolen and modified from this website)

1 T. butter
3/4 C. chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground cumin
2 T. flour
1 1/2 C. chicken broth *I used vegetable broth, obviously
2 cans or jars (4.5 ounces each) chopped green chiles (undrained) * I used about a cup of chopped roasted Hatch peppers that I bought fresh but had since frozen
vegetable oil for softening tortillas *This looked like a lot of work.  I just ran them under water before I rolled them.
12 corn tortillas *I used whole wheat
2 C. coarsely shredded cooked chicken *I used Banyan Foods’ little packs of . . . I don’t know what it is, but it’s what they use in their delicious delicious tamales.  It’s fake meat basically.  If you’re not in Texas, try Quorn instead.   Or . . . you know, chicken.
2 C. shredded Mexican-blend cheese  *I used this to top the enchiladas, but I used queso fresco for the inside.
1 C. whipping cream
1/3 C. sliced green onions
1 can (2.5 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained
3 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional) *The chopped cilantro is most certainly NOT optional.  I also chose to top the cooked enchiladas with avocado slices instead of all that tomato and olive business.  After all, it’s not a 7-layer dip.

In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Saute onion until transparent. Stir in garlic, salt and cumin. Stir in flour until well combined. (*Borrow flour from your neighbor since obviously yours is still packed in a box.  Or got thrown away.  Who knows.)  Slowly stir in broth. Add chiles and stir well. Reduce heat to simmer; cook, uncovered, about 15 minutes. (Sauce can be prepared to this point, cooled and refrigerated 24 hours in advance.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place as many tortillas on 2 cookie sheets as will fit in a single layer. Brush lightly on both sides with vegetable oil. Bake 3 minutes to warm and soften tortillas before rolling. Stack on plate and cover with foil to keep warm while filling. Repeat until all tortillas are warmed. *Like I said, I skipped this part.

Combine chicken and 1/2 cup of the green chile sauce. To fill tortillas, place 2 tablespoons chicken mixture and 2 tablespoons cheese (*Queso Fresco crumbles) across center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam-side-down in shallow 13 x 9 inch baking dish. (*Also borrow this dish from your neighbor since in all your preparation, you neglected to pick up a casserole dish from Target after work.)  Pour remaining sauce over rolled enchiladas; then pour cream evenly over entire mixture and top with remaining cheese. (*Note: I mixed the cream and the sauce together so it would be even)  Sprinkle with the green onions and ripe olives. Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped tomatoes (*sliced avocado) and cilantro, if desired, and serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

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I served this last night at my VP Debate party and 7 out of 7  people thought it was delicious.  I think it was 7 anyway, Rolf is pretty quiet.