Holy Cow!

Why would anyone name a restaurant Holy Cow?  Sure, it’s catchy, but it makes me think of cows mooing in a pasture followed by “Wow!  That’s really big – huge actually!” And then my thoughts seamlessly transition to myself and I wonder, “Am I huge?  Am I a cow?  Am I eating too much?” At least I didn’t outwardly moo during my internal stream of consciousness, not that I’m aware of anyway.  But, really, should I be eating at a place called Holy Cow?

The simple answer is, “Yes.”  While eating at Holy Cow was not a religious experience, I think I did

mutter “holy cow” when the burgers came out.  They were gigantic!  I ordered a build-your-own burger and added green chile and The Husband ordered the blue cheese burger.  I will admit that there was not much talking during this dining out experience, so I’m not sure how The Husband’s burger was.  He was too busy devouring it while he attempted to hold it in his hands.  He did manage “mmmmm” a few times, so I think that is a good sign.

Before I dismantled the burger

I took my burger a part as I normally do.  I’m turning more into a food snob like Sally in the movie When Harry Met Sally every day.  Eventually I may order everything on the side just like she does through the movie.  I took off the bun and then turned the burger upside down so that the lettuce, tomato, and green chile were on the top of the burger.  I then proceeded to knife and fork it.  I do love a good knife and fork burger and Holy Cow did not disappoint.

The meet was juicy and flavorful and did not require any ketchup.  The green chile was just spicy enough to know that I was eating green chile, but not overpowering so that I needed four glasses of water or any cheese to cool it down. 

The only downside?  Fries are not included with the burgers, which makes it a pricy dining experience for a simple burger and fries; however, it is definitely worth trying at least once.

The Inspiring Spiralizer

Spring.  It’s right around the corner.  The February sun is tempting us, teasing us with the possibility of warmth, the possibility of something new, something worth rolling out of bed to experience, the possibility of inspiration.  While the weather can’t exactly decide what it wants to do and we can’t depend on the sun to create these possibilities, we have to find inspiration in other things.

I happened to find inspiration in a kitchen gadget that I received for Christmas called The Spiralizer.  It is a tool that can turn a regular run of the mill zucchini or yellow squash, in my case, into a beautiful bowl of spirally pasta.  Inspiring? Exciting?   It is if you haven’t eaten traditional pasta in months.  So, to me The Spiralizer is the best invention since the Salad Shooter.

Zucchini or squash pasta tastes healthy, but not healthy  as in boring or “I know that I’m really eating imposter pasta,” but healthy as in fresh, as in “mmmm this is different, this is good,” as in I want seconds!

My first attempt at using The Spiralizer was a great success.  I followed the recipe for Low Carb Zucchini Pasta.  (Shocking that I actually followed a recipe, I know!) OK, so I didn’t have any zucchini, so I substituted yellow squash instead. (Guess I didn’t follow the recipe after all!)  I washed and then cut the top and bottom off the squash, then pushed and turned it through The Spiralizer.  The result, as you can see by the picture, looked much like traditional wheat pasta.

Then I made a variation of the sauce that I use in the Italian-Paleo Eggplant with Crumbled Beef, Tomatoes and Mint (minus the mint) recipe.  This sauce is very different from the usual meat marinara sauce.  It does not call for tomato sauce or tomato paste, but rather fresh tomatoes.  It also calls for vinegar, but I use apple cider vinegar to add just a hint of sweetness.  This is an excellent sauce on top of eggplant, but the squash is much more fun to spiralize than roasting the eggplant.  However, why couldn’t an eggplant be spiralized?

See what I mean?  The Spiralizer is inspiring!  If only it was in spring.