When we lived in Dallas, my husband’s and my favorite burger was from Twisted Root. Not only did they offer fairly unique burger varieties, they also offered other different meats. Some typical, some exotic (like kangaroo, crocodile, etc). Twisted Root was the first place I ever had a bison/buffalo burger. At the time I really thought I was branching out and being adventurous. Really, bison tastes a lot like beef, maybe a little gamier, but also a heck of a lot leaner. Did you know that bison has less fat than chicken? It is one of the healthiest meats you can eat, which is surprising to some people since it is a “red meat”.

After having my first bison burger at Twisted Root, I never went back to beef. If we are at a burger place and bison is on the menu I will order that without a second thought and with a lot less guilt.

My only issue with bison is that it is not very readily available. In Texas we could buy it from the butcher counter at Central Market. Here in North Carolina, the only place I have seen it is Whole Foods (Trader Joe’s sells frozen burger patties, but I just want raw, ground meat). And it’s not cheap, around $10 a pound, which means that you probably can’t eat it every day. For us, though, it’s nice to splurge on bison every few months to be able to indulge, but also be a bit healthier.

If you have never had a bison burger, I encourage you to try one. Or if you are too intimidated to cook bison yourself, don’t be! Treat is like very lean beef. You may want some extra seasoning to make up for the lack of fat, but I doubt you will miss it!

So for Father’s Day, instead of grilling up Dad a hamburger, why not splurge a bit and make Dad a bison burger?

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