Now, lovers of goat cheese, as well as those who don’t tolerate cow’s milk well, can happily expand their horizons.

For sure, the lovely handmade goat’s milk caramels from Happy Goat will make many people happy. Even our tasters who said they didn’t like goat cheese enjoyed them.

The goat’s milk and butter used to make the caramel come from happy, free-range California goats, who will make you happy in return.

• Read the full review.
• Goat-shy? Check out our favorite cow’s milk caramels.
• Take our Caramel Trivia Quiz.

Be happy, eat Happy Goat caramels.
Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

Photo by Liv Friis-larsen | Fotolia.

Unlike other flavors, it’s easy to make mint water. Using a clean medicine dropper, tap water and a recycled 16-ounce bottle (or other vessel of choice), just add three or four drops of peppermint or spearmint extract. You can add more or less extract, depending on your palate preference.

We have six bottles of homemade mint water in the fridge, ready to grab-and-go.

If you have fresh mint, crush the mint in your hands to release the oils, then place it in a pitcher or quart jar of water. Let it infuse for three hours or longer. The infusion of fresh mint is, not surprisingly, more wonderful than extract.

After the mint has infused, you can fill grab-and-go bottles, straining out the mint.

• THE PRIZE: One winner is sure to impress friends at the next picnic or barbecue by bringing along this cute, yet functional watermelon knife. Approximate retail value: $24.95.
• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Gourmet Kitchen Gadgets Section and click to enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, August 2nd at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!

Cut your melons with flair with this Kuhn Rikon Watermelon Knife. Photo courtesy Kuhn Rikon.

• To learn more about Kuhn Rikon, visit KuhnRikon.com. 

Enjoy this delicious dessert at home. Photo courtesy Inspired Cuisine.

What’s the difference between crème brûlée and other custards? See our Custard Glossary.

• THE PRIZE:Ten winners will each take home two boxes of crème brûlée mixes to make at home. Make the delicious dessert by itself, or pair it with a nice liqueur like we did in our Grand Marnier Crème Brûlée Recipe. Approximate retail value for each two-box prize: $11.00.
• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway:Go to the box at the bottom of our Gourmet Desserts Section and click to enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, August 2nd at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!
• To find out more about Inspired Cuisine, visit InspiredCuisine.com.

Before our (delicious) ahi tuna burger and bacon cheddar burger arrived, the duo at the next table received their order: large salad bowls filled with bell peppers, celery, chopped greens, cucumbers, green beans, radishes, red onion slices, tomatoes and Roquefort cheese—topped with burgers. We asked to see the menu again. There it was, in the salad column: Burger Salad.

The burger salad from L.A.’s O! Burger. Photo
courtesy OBurger.net.

While we ate every bite of our buns, we can’t wait to go back to have a burger salad. It’s available with any of the burger choices (which also include an Italian turkey burger, lamb kofta burger and veggie burger).

On the opposite coast, O! Burger, an organic burger restaurant in West Hollywood, has two burger salad options. The large mixed salad bowl on the menu—baby greens, chick peas, cucumbers, napa cabbage and tomatoes—can be topped with one or two beef, turkey or veggie patties. There’s also a “Super Bowl”: two patties with grilled vegetables.

While diners and other casual restaurants have long offered a “diet plate” of a bun-less meat patty with a side salad, in the hands of chic burger emporia it seems a treat, not a deprivation. The higher quality of meat and salad fixing has a bearing on this, of course.

The best-of-both-worlds burger salad gives you the burger you pine for, while replacing the largely high-carb and nutrition-free bun with a choice fiber- and vitamin-filled salad, tossed with a fine vinaigrette.

For those who don’t want that many veggies, Five Napkin Burger restaurant also serves an Inside Out Burger: a ground chuck patty and pickles wrapped in lettuce leaves with tomatoes and special sauce—no bun.

Burger salad, inside out burger and super bowl deliver low carb nutrition and high palate enjoyment. We’ve started making them at home (with the amazing Built Burgers). The effort is minimal, and it beats trying to get a reservation.