Sick of the same old same old on the grill? Had it with hamburgers and hot dogs? Ready to chuck the chicken breasts? How about something a little different, but not so different that you’d get nervous about eating it, like tripe or head cheese?

How about buffalo (or bison) meat? Buffalo are no longer on the brink of extinction, and seen only in zoos; now they are being bred specifically for their meat, because the nutritional value of this red meat, can’t be beat by any cow, pig or hen. Buffalo meat is lower in lots of things that are bad for you, like calories, fat and cholesterol. And buffalo meat is higher in protein, B12, iron, and omega and amino acids, than any heifer. If that’s not enough to make you consider buffalo meat, how about the fact that they are steroid-free? They naturally grow bigger and faster than their domesticated counterparts.

There’s a good deal of controversy over which tastes better, buffalo or beef, but in truth, it’s pretty similar - maybe a little “sweeter” (though that’s not normally a word associated with meat). But because it is a leaner cut of meat than beef, you’ll have to adjust your cooking method; it will dry out very quickly if cooked at too high a temperature, and you’ll need to add some oil (maybe in a nice olive oil marinade?) to prevent it from drying out too much. Anything you can do with beef (steaks, roasts, burgers, kebabs) you can do with buffalo. Just remember to do it with a bit of TLC. Oh, and some olive oil.