You might have caught a hint of praise in our last post for the artfully subtle use of green chile in Sage Bakehouse’s compound butter (hungrytravelers.com/from-the-capitols-art-to-sages-artisanry/). Well, we also like a wholehearted embrace of big flavors. Few eateries in Santa Fe employ green chile so potently as Cowgirl BBQ (319 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM; 505-982-2565; cowgirlsantafe.com). Cowgirl is one of the city’s most beloved culinary hangouts. Unlike any other barbecue house we know, the kitchen offers a broad vegan menu to supplement the usual carnivore’s delights.

Established in 1993 as a New Mexico scion of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame Restaurant in New York’s West Village, Cowgirl quickly became an anchor of Santa Fe’s Guadalupe district. By virtue of its proximity to the historic railroad station, it’s also come to mark the north end of the newly hip Railyard district. We took advantage of a warm and sunny day in April to sit in the big patio. Since the specialty of the house is Texas-style barbecue, one of us ordered chicken barbecue. It was deeply tasty and spicy from the chile dry rub. But we also indulged our craving for a New Mexican vibe by ordering a big plate of green chile fries for the table. We skipped the melted cheese, since one member of our party is vegan. It’s hard to imagine how cheese could even have improved on the crispy fries smothered in a heap of tangy green chile sauce.

But the order that lived up to its hyperbolic name was the ‶Mother of All Green Chile Cheeseburgers.″ The burger was ground from a blend of beef, locally raised bison, and applewood smoked bacon. (The bacon makes up for the lack of fat in the bison meat.) It was topped with a slab of melted brie, a heap of green chile sauce dosed with truffle oil, a fat slab of heirloom tomato, and a dab of chioptle sauce and served on a brioche bun. No ketchup needed.

It took two hands to hold and an unhinged jaw to eat. Yet all the ingredients harmonized as sweetly as a tune by the Chicks and packed a punch to make a barrel racer proud.