The leaves are off the trees, the temperature has dropped and I don’t know about you, but between Thanksgiving and Christmas I’m prone to eating fast, unhealthy meals. So I went in search of a fast, healthy meal and found myself at the take-out counter at Mariah’s.

Fast food may be quick, easy and cheap, but you can’t order a Big Mac from your computer and have it dropped off in an hour or ready to be picked up in 20 minutes.

My hostess for the day was the Mariah’s Web site. At http://www.mariahs.com I was greeted with a welcome and a promise that “ordering from Mariah’s has never been easier.” I perused the menu of entrees, pastas, salads and desserts and made my choice. But before I ordered, I coaxed my dining companion off the couch so he could place his order. He chose the chicken stir-fry and our cyber wait staff prompted him to choose a salad dressing to go with meal. He chose honey mustard and his order was complete.

I bellied back up to the order board and chose the wood-fired salmon. I was given a list of sides to choose from and chose the wood-roasted fresh vegetables, then blue cheese as my salad dressing. I added a chicken bacon wrap and bread pudding to the order because I was looking to not only review taste, health and promptness, but wanted to let you know what food did and didn’t travel well.

The stir-fry meal traveled the best. The sweet, yet tangy oriental sauce over rice and chicken was not affected by the ride home at all. In fact, the abundant, flavorful juices in the sauce with tastes of ginger, orange, soy sauce and other spices, may very well have been enhanced by marinating in the bowl with every bump, curve and bend in the road.

Even though it was traveling out of water, the fresh, Atlantic cold-water salmon also traveled well. It was still warm enough to eat with pepper and other spices atop a tender, moist cut of salmon. A wedge of lemon, wrapped in a decorative yellow sachet, squeezed over the top, added to the flavor and tenderness.

The bacon wrap was absolutely delicious with a wild, woodsy flavor. It combined the flavor of hickory smoked bacon, sliced chicken breast, with cheddar and jack cheese wrapped in a wheat tortilla. It is toasted in Mariah’s wood fire oven, and for this reason, it didn’t travel well. It needed to be re-heated to re-melt the cheese, and the tortilla edges had hardened. It was good though, and after re-heating, tearing off the edges and dipping it in the ranch dressing it came with – it rivaled any fast or slow meal I’ve ever had.

Mariah’s signature salads also traveled well – dressings on the side. The wood-roasted vegetables (zucchini, squash, onions and red peppers) seemed to continue cooking on the drive home, so that they were – if this is possible – soggy at first bite, then dry without much flavor as I ate them. If you’re eating in, I recommend them, but for a healthy alternative that might travel better I would suggest the fresh fruit.

The prize winning food item that would probably still taste good even if you drove it cross country was the bread pudding. Wow. This was by far the best bread pudding I’ve had in Bowling Green. Rich, solid, thick, yet moist and spongy to the touch. I could taste the hint of white chocolate and the Kentucky whiskey sauce was delicious poured over the top or with the bread pudding dipped until saturation.

Now, it is true this food will cost you. About three to four times more than what you’d pay at that fast food drive through. But this column is about the quality of food that passes through your palate, and if you can afford a little splurge now and then, I recommend you put your taste buds and health first and stop at Mariah’s for some quality “fast” food.

Mariah’s Food and Spirits

801 State St.

Bowling Green, KY 42101

842-6878

Take-out hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday

Specialties: Pasta, steaks and sandwiches

Cuisine: American

Price range for take out: $7.49 to $22.99

Libation situation: Full bar (but you can’t take it with you)

Smoking: In your car? It’s up to you!