Tag Archives: vegetarian

Come out of Chi-bernation for these Winter Food Finds

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Oh winter…devilishly evil Chicago winter.  You haven’t been able to keep us down…especially with all these events and restaurant openings popping up.  What about you, dear readers?  Have you wound your scarf around you and strapped those snow boots on to take the chill out of winter?  Here are some spots that may make you wanna brave the great white Midwest.

Remember that ol’ Lasalle Power company dance club you used to troll to pick up your future v-day date?  Well now it’s been converted into a brand new Gino’s East.  Chicago’s legendary pizza spot just got classy at its River North location.  Three floors of expansive rustic cozy hangout space will eliminate your wait with your out of town guests as you get your “mangia” on with artichoke pizza, pickle-y sliders and fat stuffed cheese sticks with spinach.  The restaurant proclaims to be  including a brewery opening in several months as well…just in time for Spring!!

Restaurants

Our next pick is a neighbor to the north, Pizzeria Serio, a  hidden addition to the food scene on Belmont avenue in Lakeview.  WGN’s Chicago Best honored Pizzeria Serio as one of Chicago’s fave pizza.  Check out the video here.  We hopped over snow mounds to meet with the Chicago Food Bloggers and Pizzeria Serio was gracious enough to host our group.  We sampled several tasty starters like a Spinach Salad (baby spinach leaves, red onion, mandarin oranges, goat cheese and walnuts in homemade citrus dressing) and the more traditional Caprese.   For veggie lovers and goat cheese lovers (eww says one of us..the goat cheese hater) try the spinach specialty pizza (EVOO, sea salt, black pepper, fresh garlic, tomatoes, spinach, ricotta and goat cheese sans sauce).  For the more purist pizza crowd, try the wood burned crusty Eat Your Veggies (onions, green peppers, mushrooms and black olives)  and get your 5 a day veg serving…a good excuse to eat mas pizza if we do say so…and we do.

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In a whole other country (this is what it feels like to Chicago residents) is Farmhouse in Evanston.  This tavern makes their own burgers, condiments and soda from scratch with ingredients plucked straight from Midwestern farms.  Even their beverage selection is pulled only from Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan.  The majority of interior pieces are reclaimed woods and salvaged materials.  At the kick off to North Shore Restaurant month, going on now, we gobbled down hot beer battered Wisconsin cheese curds with crispy warm centers and fresh Tavern-cut peppery potato chips with homemade ranch-like dipping sauce.  On demand for our next visit is the Old World Grains Burger with Forest Mushroom and Poblano Pepper.  For those of you who don’t venture that far out of our city, there’s also a sister location in River North with a slightly different menu and a two floor space.  Don’t all these pics of yummy food make you wanna trek through your alley to the El?

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Relishing the Pro Chef Life: Fresh Meal Delivery Service from Relished Foods

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UPDATE: 8.21.14 Relished has expanded and rebranded to become Home Chef.  They now offer vegan and veg friendly menus as well…all the more reason to stay home and be lazy instead of grocery shopping!

Ooo we are so sick of winter in Chiberia and we’ve had too many days of stir crazy all day pajama pants wearing.  This weather sure hasn’t made it easy to get out to grocery shop, let alone put on any real semblance of clothes.  Enter Relished Foods to conquer any reason to brave the cold white landscape we now call home.

Relished, is a fledgling Chicago area company that delivers fresh ingredients with clear visual instructions to cook healthy delicious meals like a pro.  Each order includes three meals for one week.  Recipes rotate weekly.

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Now to the good food stuff!

We received 3 recipes:

  • Farfalle Pasta with Shrimp
  • Arugula and Fennel Salad with Chicken
  • Naan Pizza

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We were hesitant about the Farfalle Pasta recipe which seemed too simple and possibly bland but once we noticed the fresh prepped ingredients and easy instructions our curiosity got us….  Farfalle Pasta sans Shrimp recipe included fresh baby spinach, basil, plump juicy cherry tomatoes, garlic and asiago cheese.  This is how manageable the recipes are.  We washed the vegetables, sliced the cherry tomatoes, basil and garlic.  Lastly, we added EVOO, sea salt and grounded whole black pepper…so taxing (wink)!

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Once we took a bite of this dish, we were pleasantly surprised by the flavors.  Although simple, the dish was satisfying and complex.

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With the arugula, we got to experience some ingredients we don’t usually utilize like fennel, and even champagne vinegar (you fancy, huh).  The chicken was lean and still juicy.  Relished packaging made it manageable to have one vegetarian and one omnivore eating the same meals as the meats were packaged separately from the veggies.

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The naan pizza made us giggle in delight because we love artichokes, roasted red peppers and onions.  All you had to do was plop the toppings on and bake.  The recipe made two 8 inch pizzas.

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What we learned about getting Relished pro chef meals sent to our house:

  1. All meals take 30 minutes or less and require minimal cooking skills.
  2. Recipe cards were visually stimulating, well articulated and can be used again!
  3. Food came in a space aged cooler box and ingredients stayed fresh until we were ready to cook.
  4. Meals cost around $10 a serving.

We really appreciated that all meals were veggie heavy, creative and delicious.  Relished is only about 6 months in and they have also indicated that they are exploring only veggie/vegan meal options to expand their dietary offerings.  Now if only they would send us some hot cocoa to warm things up for us, we be all about staying in for another week or so.

Thanks to Relished for inviting us to try such yummy and vegetastic meals!!

 

 

Chicago Thin Crust? A Pizza Must!

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Blaze Pizza

Oh Twitter,  how we love thee.  Recently, the Chicago Food Scene held a Twitter poetry competition for free Blaze pizzas.  We dug deep back to our middle school Haiku writing days  and typed a clever pizza ditty….and won!!   Once our coupons came, we gleefully braved the snow to try the “new to Chicago” casual pizza chain, Blaze Pizza, situated in Boystown right near the El stop.  We weren’t really sure what to expect when we entered but the staff hollered out a welcome and invited us to come closer.

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As we shyly peeked around, they detailed the Blaze pizza process for us.  The fine art of pizza creation is set up in an assembly line format.  Patrons can pick their own pie toppings and sauce or choose a signature ‘za and watch while it is made.  Pizzas are 11 inches of thin crust glory and take only 3 minutes to cook.  We were intrigued by the gigantic oven and learned that 12 pizza could fit inside which brings to mind sitcom hijinx of craaazy pizza cooking.  The oven man assured me that he avoided that magnitude of pizza multitasking.  The oven does, however, cook pizzas at a blazing (get it?!!!?) hot 800 degrees.

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There were a ton of signature veggie pizza options available to us as well as gluten free and vegan substitutions.  We decided on the Red Vine, with fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, basil and chunky red sauce, and the Green Stripe, with pesto sauce, arugula, and garlic minus the chicken.

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Blaze Pizza – “Red Vine” with fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, basil and chunky red sauce

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Blaze Pizza – “Green Stripe” with pesto sauce, arugula, and garlic minus the chicken

Pizza Highlights: Blaze Pizza is a real departure from Chicago style pizza and a real good one at that.  The crust was light, crispy and a titch garlicky. Our wallets were happy because their pizzas only cost 8 bucks and we each walked out with leftover slices.  We also tried the S’mores pie, a chewy marshmallow with melted chocolate in between 2 British biscuits.  It had appropriately crumbly texture but we decided it could have used a quick pop in the oven.

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Status: Liked, retweeted and plused, we loved Blaze Pizza and will be back to make our own creation.  Thanks to Blaze Pizza and Chicago Food Scene for choosing us as the creative poetresses that we are and giving us pizzas instead of an award.

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Meatless Monday: Roasted Broccoli Sammiches

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Bored of boiled broccoli, all soggy and bland?  How about some roasted broccoli with flavor!  We’ve been hooked on oven roasted veggies this year and have no intention of ever looking back. We made two versions of roasted broccoli that can be eaten alone or even added into a sandwich (think cheesy melty panini).

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Baked Broccoli Cheese Sandwich

Modified from here.

Serving 2 people.

Ingredients

  • 1 small sized head of broccoli
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • whole black pepper, grounded to taste
  • Earth Balance Organic Coconut Spread
  • 4 whole wheat bread
  • Smoked gruyere cheese (also available at Aldi)

Directions

  • Preheat oven 400 degrees.
  • Cut broccoli.  Put into a round tupperware.  Add seasonings and oil and mix it.

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  • Spread out on a baking tray.  Bake for 10 minutes.
  • Spread lightly Earth Balance Organic Coconut Spread on 4 whole wheat breads.
  • Add 1 sliced smoked gruyere cheese on top of coconut spread on each of two sandwiches.
  • Add the roasted broccoli to each of two sandwiches.

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  • Put in a panini maker or grill on stove.

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For a more spicier flavor as a snack or side dish.

  • Same as above plus
  • 1/4 tsp garlic
  • red chili pepper flakes, to taste
  • cayenne pepper or chile arbol ground, to taste

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Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and it’s ready to eat!  Now excuse us because its dinner time.  Broccoli ahoy!!

Meatless Monday: Cranberry Spiced Butternut Squash

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Are you suffering from a lingering Thanksgiving coma?  Are you currently looking at a squash that your aunt brought you over the holiday with a perplexion on how to use it.  Squash is one of those winter foods that we didn’t know what to do with during our early cooking days. Now we know there is a multitude of squash available: all that can be turned into awesome veggie meals

Recognize any of these variety of squash???

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Pumpkin, Spaghetti and Carnvial Squash (bottom left to right)
Butternut, Acorn and Buttercup Squash (top left to right)

Here’s a starter recipe for the puzzling squash. This week’s Meatless Monday dish features yummy natural cranberry sauce and a winter superstar, Butternut Squash.  If you’re feeling extra lazy, which we’re guessing you still are as we noticed your Santa pajama pants, you can grab pre-cut and peeled butternut squash from the grocery store instead of machete-ing that sucker. If you’re more adventurous, cut open the squash length wise, scoop out the seeds, peel and cut into 1 inch cubes in preparation.

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Cranberry Spiced Butternut Squash

Ingredients

  • 2 cups butternut squash, chopped in 1 inch cubes, peeled
  • 1 cup natural cranberry sauce (no jiggly cran jelly people!)
  • 1/2 cup no salt sunflower seeds (no husks)
  • Maple syrup to taste

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If you’re feeling spicy, you could add 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (Vietnamese cinnamon is our favorite).

Directions

  • Fill a medium sized pot with water and bring the water to a boil
  • Boil squash until tender
  • Drain water
  • Mix all the ingredients while squash is still warm
  • Add maple syrup until desired sweetness

Easy peasey butternut squash can  be transformed into other various hearty dishes. You can puree it with veggie stock and spices for a delicious savory soup, mix it with arugula and feta, or, for a sweeter treat, try roasting it with cinnamon and butter. Now put on some real clothes and go attack that squash!

A Very Veg Thanksgiving: Baked French Onion Soup and Mushroom Gravy

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Here’s Part 2 of delicious side dishes from my cooking adventure, French Onion Soup and Mushroom Gravy taught at Whole Foods Market Cooking School in Lincoln Park.  Thanks to Google+ Local Chicago for hosting this culinary experience!

When you see the food pics below, you’ll know why the whole class was clamoring to get a close view of the finished product.

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French Onion Soup

  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 4 large sweet onions, thinly sliced with the grain
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1 tsp dried thyme or 1 tbsp fresh thyme
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine, recommend cabernet sauvignon
  • 2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 cups filtered water
  • 1 small baguette
  • 1/2 pound Swiss, Gruyere, or Emmenthaler cheese, shredded
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Emmenthaler Swiss Cheese

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 200 degrees
  • Dry heat a large soup pot or dutch oven for 2 minutes.  Add to hot pot the sliced onions.  Sprinkle salt and drizzle olive oil over onions.  With a large spoon or tongs, constantly turn the onions so they do not stick to the bottom.  Continue stirring and flipping for 5-10 minutes.  The onions will start to shrink and caramelized beautifully.  Add the thyme and stir once more.  Place a lid on the pot and continue this 30 minutes, stirring every so often.  This is where the base of the flavor comes from.  The longer you caramelize, the deeper the flavor.
  • Slice baguette to fit your bowls, either on a diagonal or in circles.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes, until bread is completely dried out.
  • Add red wine and balsamic vinegar.  This will help deglaze the pan and pick up more flavor.  Let cook another 10 minutes with no lid.  This will concentrate the liquid a bit to help deepen the flavor.  Add bay leaves and water and bring to a boil.  Turn heat to simmer, place lid on pot and allow to cook another 15-30 minutes.

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  • Ladle into bowls, place bread over soup and sprinkle on cheese.  Place under broiler for 1 1/2 – 2 minutes.  Be aware of the time as the broiler can burn food very quickly.  Enjoy!

Vegan Thanksgiving Cooking Class

 

Mushroom Gravy

Whole Foods Market recipe adapted from Post Punk Kitchen

  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour or almond flour for gluten free
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 shallots, diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 2tsp thyme
  • salt and peper to taste
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Directions

  • In a large bowl, mix 2 cups vegetable broth with flour.  Whisk until there are no lumps.  Add remaining 2 cups of vegetable broth and set aside.
  • Heat a large sauce pan.  Add oil and shallots.  Saute about 5 minutes until shallots are limp.
  • Add garlic, mushrooms, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper.  Stir until well combined.  Saute about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are cooked.

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  • Add wine and bring to a boil for 3 minutes, letting the liquid reduce.  Stir often.
  • Add broth mixture and nutritional yeast to the pot.  Let cook 10-15 minutes until gravy thickens.

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So this is my first experience with mushroom gravy as a born vegetarian!  Use on whatever dish you want….cover your greens, your mashed potatoes or slather it on the Whole Foods “meat” loaf recipe from part 1.

Craving more variety for your veggie-giving?  Check out the following veg/vegan recipes as a Thanksgiving side dish or fall treat and have a healthy happy holiday tomorrow!

Super Moist Pumpkin Bread by Post Punk Kitchen 

Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger and Vanilla by Post Punk Kitchen

Candied Yams by Earth Balance Made Just Right

Buttery Apple Cider Carrots by Earth Balance Made Just Right

Vegan Pumpkin Pie by Whole Foods Market

Ay Chica WoW WoW, we heart sexy tacos!

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Our constant gratitude attitude must be working this holiday season.  We got a karmic invite recently from Rockit PR goddess, Kara Callera, to chow-wow down at Billy Dec’s most recent restaurant installment, ¡AY CHIWOWA! (throwing out a couple more thanks, universe!).

Highlight Reel:  AY CHIWOWA is at the tip of River North on Orleans and Chicago (worth noting as there is secret free parking in the area if you are willing to stretch those Chicago winter legs for a block or two).  Perfect spot for: After work drinks and apps with coworkers (lots of specials for those of us on a “paying back college loans” budget), partying on the weekend with your lady friends (VIP service and private room space in the back of the spot) or an upbeat date with someone who likes it loud.  AY CHIWOWA is also known for their immense selection of tequilas and creative cocktails, such as the spicy Acai Jalapeno Margarita, so call an Uber or a pink mustached Lyft in honor of Movember if you wanna get down.

As cold as it was outside the night of our visit, we received a warm welcome from staff and like a T.I. rap song, we were invited to have whatever we liiiiiked.  The music was bumping with throw back jams like “Snoop Doggy Dog” and an ugly sweater train of patrons danced past us as we settled ourselves at our cozy table.  As Jill, our bubbly and attentive server, brought out a bevy of items, the dudes next to us probably thought we were trying to add some extra padding for the long winter.

 

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Here’s the good, the amazing and the meh OK of AY CHIWOWA battling it out for best thing in our bellies.

Starters: 

Fresh chunky mango guacamole and roasted salsa paired with hot salted tortilla chips

VS.

Queso fundido (aka big old bowl of melty mexicheese) with sauteed peppers, onions and garlic

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¡AY CHIWOWA!

Winner?  Tie.  If we were on a deserted island and only had one food to live on, we would be praying some avocados would be drop from the sky.  The queso fundido, however, was a surprise plus with its flavorful veggie additions.

Veggie Entrees Throwdown:

Veggie Quesadilla

VS.

Veggie Tacos

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¡AY CHIWOWA!

Winner: Somehow queso fundido jumped in the cage match and beat up both veggie quesadilla and veggie tacos.  All three featured the similar sauteed peppers and onions leaving the veggie variety a little lacking.  Maybe throw some black bean tacos on the menu to entice the veg/vegan crowd?

Meaty Martial Arts Taco Match:

Slow cooked brisket-like Barbacoa

VS.

Adobe Veracruz style Chicken

VS.

Pork Belly with pickled radish

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¡AY CHIWOWA!

Winner: Barbacoa!!!  The short rib meat was so juicy and tasty that no toppings were actually needed.  The bright watercress salad on top of the taco zeroed in on the melt in your mouth texture of the taco.  The chicken came in second with a solid Adobo spice and pleasing texture.

Our coup d’etat and game changers, though, were two sugar dusted churros, with a perfect balance of soft fluffy insides and crunchy outsides, accompanied by an addictive hot cajeta sauce.  When we think of churros, usually its those stale carnival ones, not very thrilling to cupcake connoisseurs, but “someone” enjoyed them so much a bite of churro “mysteriously” ended up in her mouth…and then the stare down began.

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¡AY CHIWOWA!  Thanks again for hosting us!!

Looking for more of what’s hot in Chicago?  Follow Billy Dec’s blog http://www.achicagothing.com and twitter https://twitter.com/billydec

Tis’ the Season for a Restaurant Preview: Seasons 52 River North

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You know how sometimes divine providence throws you a foodie bone?  A light shone down on us last Monday when we received a mysterious email invite to a restaurant preview for Seasons 52.  We immediately got the googlin’ fever and checked out the scope of the restaurant.  River North, eh?  Must be semi-fancy.  Then came the menu snooping and the what to wear conversations.

As two small town bloggers in a big town, we didn’t quite know what to expect from our first media reception.  The first thing we noticed was that we had accidentally matched our outfits.  Ok, bright side, we are a more united front in our navy and white striped twinsie clothes.

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John State is Seasons 52 Executive Chef Partner

The second thing we noticed was the atmosphere.  Seasons 52, just a ferris wheel away from Navy Pier, sets out to be a casual wine and piano bar with seasonal rotating entree elements.  There was definitely mood lighting when we arrived and the pianist was crooning a little Dawson’s Creek like ditty as we walked to the reception area.  The restaurant layout features open spaces, a circular bar area, Frank Lloyd Wright inspired design and *highlight* a chef’s table where you can spy on and get served by the executive chef of the restaurant…oh the pressure for those line cooks as you scrutinize their every chop!

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What we ate: We started off with two flatbreads.  The crust was noticeably buttery and crisp (but not microwave pizza rock solid) which was a nice balance.  The ripe plum tomato and mozzarella flatbread with basil was not unique but satisfying.  The Sonoma goat cheese flatbread was more intriguing with luscious chunks of roasted garlic, a trio of mushrooms (black trumpet, portobello and oyster), spinach and scallions.  Kate HATES goat cheese, yet it was mild enough that she actually didn’t spit the flatbread into her napkin and admittedly, enjoyed it.

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Sonoma Goat Cheese Trio Mushroms (top right) and Ripe Plum Tomato (bottom right)

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Spicy Chipotle Shrimp (left) and Piedmontese Beef & Black Bean Chili (bottom right)

Next, came an only made for us goat cheese stuffed ravioli with chive aioli and shaved root veggies on top.  The staff was kind enough to treat us due to the rest of the samples being meaty (short ribby and chipotle pineapple shrimpy to be exact).  Marty, the most knowledgeable server in the history of mankind aka the Aristotle of waiter-ing, explained that two key attractive features of this new joint.

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Seasons 52 – Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli (harvest vegetables, black mushrooms, roasted onion jus)

1) They have a gazillion menus to serve your (and our) picky friends.  That means your vegan, vegetarian, T-Rexian, salt-free, and gluten hating peeps can all eat dinner in one spot.  REMARKABLE!

2) Certain menu items and pieces of entrees change with the seasons to produce peak flavor.  For example, mushrooms, root vegetables, goat cheese, pumpkin seeds, and other fall goodies appear in fall only.  As a contrast, items like berries, melons and cucumbers would find their way back to you in summer.

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Seasons 52 menu includes gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, lactose-free, sodium-friendly and garlic-free

Finally, the epic portion of our evening was about 8 baby parfait desserts to choose from.  We split them to avoid the old “pants splitting at a restaurant” dilemma.  One surprise favorite was a creamy key lime parfait and of course, good ol’ pumpkin  was right in season.  Seasons 52 also offers a fresh fruit parfait for your more health conscious self.  We met famed Ask.com health blogger, Nina Cherie, at the reception and she modeled appropriate dessert choosing.  *Sigh* P.S. She’s awesome!

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Seasons 52 – Mini Indulgence includes Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse, Key Lime Pie, Mocha Macchiato, Pecan Pie with Vanilla Mousse, Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Snap Crust, Belgian Chocolate Rocky Road, Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cannoli and Market Fresh Fruit

Any “eh ok” things?: Seasons 52 is in River North.  Parking, meh, might wanna take the red line el train..oh wait! VENTRA (fist shaking).

What we LOVED the most: The service!  All the staff were not just aware of their craft but were interesting, friendly people.  We had a long conversation with the super attentive and yoga loving server, Kelly as she toured us around the restaurant, refilled our drinks non stop and encouraged us to take free dessert home.  Need we say more?

Seasons 52 opened October 17th for all.  Go get your own review on and tell us what you think!

Taco-Tastic: A Soft Shell recap of National Taco Day

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Friday October 4th…a day that will live in infamy… a day to gorge on (dare we say it) one of the best hand held foods known to (wo)man: the taco.  Take that, fried food on a stick!  Below is a smattering of some of the most tantalizing taco trends in the Chi area.

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Taco Joint – Panela Taco (Black Bean salsa, grilled panela cheese, mushrooms with creamy guajillo salsa and arugula!) and Grapefruit Margarita!

Taco Joint won our hearts again with their National Taco Day deals.  The brand new River North hotspot has a wealth of wealthy people watching.  Read more details in our previous post about it’s sister spot, located in Lincoln Park.  Mon cheated with another friend and enjoyed the $2 dollar panela, black bean, mushroom and arugula tacos with a refreshing grapefruit margarita and some twitter # provided free guac on National Taco Day.  (Kate: Sad faced 😦 but will persevere)

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West town hides our prime birthday celebration spot, De Cero, on the restaurant row strip of Randolph Street.  De Cero’s Tacos De Rajas, tickle our taco fancy, with mildly sweet green peppers, cojita cheese, cilantro and crema.  For the salsa aficionados, De Cero boasts a range of flavors, from the tart pickled jalapeño to the spiccccy habanero mango.  Bring your friends along as you can order paired taco trays so that everyone can delight in the taco variety.

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De Cero – Rajas Taco, Guajillo Black Bean Taco and more!!

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Latin Asian fusion restaurant, Saucy Porka, puts a twist on the taco (theirs’ is called a baco) with a bao bun base as the taco shell.  We hounded them at the recent food truck rally for their crispy ginger tofu baco with crisp Asian slaw and can’t wait to take over their downtown location to experience their Tostones, curry sweet potato fries, and Ho Chi Minh tofu sammich.

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Saucy Porka – Soy Ginger Tofu Baco

Vegans and T Rexs alike can rejoice in the Baja tofu tacos at the little Logan Square gem, Ground Control.  The lightly fried tofu is topped with pickled red onion, crunchy cabbage, black sesame and a vegan Baja sauce that tastes a little ranchy.  Sweet potato tacos also grace the menu with sautéed kale, firm mushrooms, and a not too hot chili tomato sauce.

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Ground Control – Smothered Sweet Potato Tacos

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Ground Control – Baja Tacos

We are drooling at the thought of partaking in the taco goodness of Antique Taco or Ay Chiwowa as we’ve heard taco-tastic reviews…ooh do we feel a Taco-Tastic review, part II coming soon?

Dearest readers, where do you go to get your taco fix?  We got a fever and the only prescription is…more cow bell…oops, we mean tacos!