The Wild Cow

Wild Cow

1896 Eastland Ave

Nashville, TN

615-262-2717

As my food blogger friend Lesley Eats says, there are no wild cows left in the world, the wild cow is extinct. Every time I pass by or see the Wild Cow restaurant, I think of Lesley, and her statement of wild cow extinction due hundreds of years of domestication and making the cow a beast of burden.

cashew dip appetizer

It has been a tough couple of years for eating right for me. I was required to go to remote places in the USA where the restaurants available are only fast food, deep fried foods, and places with the lack of fiber and veggies. I went on biz trips with co-workers who just wanted to dine and drink at the near by watering hole, and there have been plenty of meals of deep fried foods and a pint glass. Every time I return home to Nashville, I have a deep desire to "detox" and all I want are nice glasses of filtered water from my tap, fresh veggies, raw foods, sushi, local organic dishes and DEFINITELY nothing deep fried.

A couple weeks ago, after a week of being in a remote place with co-workers, as well as I, we were too exhausted to figure out anything for dinner besides the bar next to the hotel and just downing deep fried foods, the only food on the bar menu. I came home needing to "detox" from this unhealthy, heart and artery clogging, stroke making, diabetes contributing food. The day I returned, I was supposed to meet my buddies for dinner, and these buddies could swing either way, super healthy or fried bar food, and thank goodness this time we were all on the same page, we all have junked out for weeks, and we all wanted to eat healthier.

quinoa tacos with sweet potato hash

So, off to the Wild Cow we went. After my week of h#llish deep fried in trans fat bar food, I got giddy looking at the Wild Cow menu. Very few items are deep fried. There are whole grains and brown rice. There are raw veggies, fresh organic veggies, and well placed seeds. The menu has vegan and vegetarian options, as well has hand crafted sodas. Oh, what to get, what to get!?

So, as we looked at the menu, none of us have been here before because of what we heard before. It is inconsistent to an extreme, it was either an A+ or an F. One of my friends went twice, and never went back. Her 1st visit she got a dish that rocked, and would make anyone turn vegan and request this as a daily meal because it was that good! Her 2nd visit a couple days later, ordered that same dish, and it was one of the worst dishes she ever had, and would fuel any vegan nay-sayer to say, "See vegan dishes are gross, how can you eat that!?" So, the 4 of us all heard the same stories from friends who ate at the Wild Cow, and we were wondering if we on an A+ day or and F day. Well, Fridays and Saturdays seem to have the A-team working, so we were there on an A+ day.

home style plate with salad, sweet potato hash and BBQ tofu

We started off with cashew dip. We loved it! We dove right into it! It was slightly like a hummus, but a cashew nut flavor. It was creamy without cream. Dunno how its made, but wish I did! We loved the fresh veggies served with it. There were corn chips served with it, and the only way to make this appetizer better would be to have how made tortilla chips come with this dish! But, I don't think they have a deep frier, so that would make it difficult to make homemade chips.

For our entrees, we got a grilled tofu salad, beans and greens with garlic aioli, quinoa tacos and the homestyle plate. The homestyle plate is a nod to the Nashville meat and three, and is a hearty portion of gluten free vegetarian foods. The sweet potato is a big pile of riced sweet potato with light spice and onions (I think), and I have not seen sweet potato served this way before, but we all agreed this is the stuff we could eat again and again. I must try it again and deconstruct it and attempt to make it at home. Delicious. The quinoa tacos are very big and filling. The sauce and spices are good, and you would never miss that meat in this taco. Actually, I think meat would take away from the goodness of these tacos.

I ordered beans and greens from my dish. Beans and greens is at one time, 50 -70 years ago was a staple dinner before the meat lobbies fooled us all into believing we should eat meat at every meal. I make beans and greens more often than other meals because it can be quick (if I use a can of beans) by tossing greens and beans in a pot, heat, ta-da! Dinner! Beans and greens is a comfort food in my house, however I usually make it with some chicken stock or a couple strips of locally made real hickory smoked bacon to give another layer of flavor. The Wild Cow version is vegetarian, so no bacon or chicken! Guess what, I DID NOT miss the bacon or chicken stock. This was a very hearty dish, pinto beans, kale and quinoa with a delicious garlic aioli on top. The beans and greens were seasoned well, and that aioli, no idea how they made it because it is vegan, so no egg at all, was the sauce of the the gods. I could not get enough of the vegan aioli! I just love it! Perhaps it is ground flax seed, perhaps a little arrowroot, I am not sure, but the texture and flavor was divine.

We all left feeling good after eating at the Wild Cow. We were full, but not weighed down with trans fats. It felt like the food we just ate was doing our bodies good. Our arteries were much happier with us after this meal. I felt like it was the perfect "detox" after the week of h#llish food. We all want to go back. We all decided that we will go back, but on the weekend during high traffic time when the Wild Cow is more apt to have the A-team cooking and making delicious food.