and then a gyro salad comes along...with the taste to carry on...Jimmy V's Grill & Pub

Betty and I decided to stop in at Jimmy V's Grill & Pub to grab a bite to eat after spending the afternoon venturing out and looking at real estate. I ordered the gyro salad while Betty got the cheeseburger


gyro salad with gyro meat, pitas, olive, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions & feta

The salad was tasty, refreshing and gargantuan. I got to get my gyro fix with all the seeming lightness and nutrition of a salad. I would like to take a moment to note that thin cut gyro meat is a rarity in Columbus these days. If anyone knows of a place that slices and serves thin cut gyro meat holla atcha' bear.


cheeseburger with American cheese and fries

Betty reported that her cheeseburger was classically delicious. I had a bite and agreed.

This was probably our fourth time going to Jimmy V's and I must say that every visit has been consistently fresh and tasty. Definitely worth checking out if you're interested in bar food with Greek flare.

license to grill at the Chateau...

Betty and I had a busy 4th of July weekend grilling out. I tried my sister's marinade once again on some chicken tenders and thighs this time but changed it up a bit adding some other spices and even beer to the recipe.


chicken tenders and thighs on the grill...okay so not quite Los Potosinos...but still

The chicken tenders were good but even after a day of marination did not seem to be ultra-flavored as previously made. The chicken thighs on the other hand were simply delicious though not as healthy. I think the fat tissue on the thighs hold the marinade better.

We also stopped off at Whole Foods and picked up some 85/15 ground beef burgers.


covered burgers on challah buns with American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles

This was my first time grilling beef burgers and I struggled cooking them. I left them on the grill for 12 minutes but they were still bloody so I cooked them longer. In the end I got them to a medium cooking color and we served them with challah buns. The burgers were phenomenal. Why have i been spending my money on restaurant burgers when these are the jam?


plated above was the grilled chicken thighs with chipotle mac and cheese and tater salad all bear made

The chipotle mac and cheese was a freestyle from 2 different recipes and included 2 different types of cheddar and a pepper jack cheese, 3 adobo chilis and paste, and 2 chorizo sausage links. This was my first time making mac and cheese and it turned out pretty good but still not as good as my sister makes. The tater salad was the freestyle salad inspired by Columbus Yogurt that consisted of both sweet and dill pickles, pickle juice, red wine vinegar, curry and cumin. We used the grill 3 times over the weekend which brings my total grilling adventures to 7 or so. There is still a lot to learn about grilling and heating strategies on the grill but for now it's safe to say that I have a license to grill. Now the only question is...what to grill next?

the more you know...the more you potato...

Columbus Yogurt made the best potato salad I've ever had in my life. Unfortunately he freestyled his recipe and doesn't quite remember what was in it. No worries -- I recalled he used 3 different kinds of pickles and that was good enough for me to finally venture out on my own. Pictured below is my homemade potato salad, grilled chicken croissant sandwich, and left over black bean dip.

Crucial to my potato salad were:

1) diced pickles + pickle juice
2) heavy cream
3) real mayo
4) yellow mustard
5) smathering of seasonings.

Taste: off the charts.


tater salad, chicken croissant, black bean dip

pastafari...pastafari...pastafari preserve all taste...

Hibernating in the kitchen i freestyled some pasta salad for a cookout over at some friends -- using a vegetable radiatore pasta from Trader joes mixed with tomatoes, onions, orange peppers, black beans, bacon, red wine vinegar, cumin, brianna's santa fe dressing, and some shredded habanero cheddar cheese. Equal bites...just tasty.


pasta salad

itb remix f. big salad and bold hummus

With many leftovers from the weekend's festivities I had fun remixing them for numerous new meals this week.


indian turkey burger, hummus, pita chips & tomato cucumber salad with sriracha.

nothing beats kfc... khurmagiana freestyle chicken...

Betty and I do not normally eat a lot of Italian food out. Not sure why. I am not normally even a big fan of chicken parmigiana but i decided I would freestyle something together using some recent purchases from the Hills Market. I used Trader Joe's tenderloin chicken.


defrosted Trader Joe's chicken tenderloin patted dry.


seasoned-salt-flour; boring plain bread crumbs with Trader Joe's pasta seasoning; 1 beaten egg

I dredged the chicken in an egg wash with yolk - why waist it you know? Then dusted the chicken in a flour-seasoned-salt blend -- back in the egg wash again -- and then one final dusting in a breadcrumbs-Italian-pasta-seasoning blend.


boring prep shot. chicken browning on iron skillet

The linguine was delicious and cooked in 3 minutes. I used the Rossi Pasta Classic linguine from Hills Market. Marietta Ohio represent.

The pasta sauce was pretty good with everything as well. I used "Cleveland's Own Little Italy Pasta" sauce available at the Hills Market as well.

I also steamed some broccoli and cauliflower to accompany the meal along with a small mixed greens salad with goat cheese and tomatoes.

Oh. And I forgot that we also had garlic bread from Weilands bakery.


Betty and I really enjoyed this meal. There was an authentic restaurant style taste to the pasta sauce that made everything taste good together. Even nicer was that we had mother amounts of leftovers for lunch for the remainder of the week.


divide and conquer. kfc lunch for the week

her name is Bar-rio and she dances on the sand...

Not sure if it was work or something else in the air but I had the get-out-and-eat-bug this week. We decided to finally try Barrio Tapas after striking out at Banana Bean Cafe off of Whittier which we learned was closed on Mondays. We ordered a number of items from their seemingly delicious eclectic menu.


We started off with a pitcher of sangria which was half off for happy hour for $12. The idea that someone might drop $24 for a pitcher was shocking to me. Sangria was so so -- not even in the same ballpark as Barcelona's. The bread with the butter and spiced oil was nice but we only got 3 slices of bread. Come on now.

Started off with the tuna ceviche and both versions of their empanadas.


tuna ceviche with base of lime, basil, siracha

The plating of the meal was the best thing about the ceviche. The lime was too overpowering and I failed to understand what they were trying to do with the taste. The popcorn I could care less for. The radish salad and plantain were tasty but it's not a good sign when radishes are trumping tuna.

crab, almond, goat cheese empanada with corn, pico, avocado puree

I really wanted to enjoy this but it tasted bland to me.


beef and bean empanada

I enjoyed this empanada a bit better but I couldn't really make out the bean that was with it. Beef was alright. Both empanadas had tasty puff pastry but in the end I would've been happier eating a Chili's southwestern eggroll.

At this point I found myself uninspired by the food but wanted to try more of the menu -- good for Barrio Tapas -- but bad for this month's credit card bill. We ordered the watercress & goat cheese salad along with the scallops wrapped in serrano ham. I'm glad we explored the menu. The salad was tremendous and the scallops were delicious as funk. Definitely some of the best scallops i've ever tried -- not no parkay -- not no margarine -- strictly butter -- strictly butter.


watercress & goat cheese with sour orange mojo, pistachio & goat cheese tostada



scallop and serrano ham with mango sherry vinaigrette, cilantro puree

When all is said and done Barrio Tapas is an alright place: a pricey menu with some tasty gems, a great dining environment and a prime downtown location. If we go back it'd be more of a stop off for a drink sort of place while out on the town.

salads and salads...

I wasn't kidding when I was talking about salads.



1) mixed greens
2) grilled chicken tenderloin marinated in a rosemary spice blend
3) sliced boiled eggs
4) shredded mozzarella cheese
5) green onions
6) all topped with a blend of cous cous, tomatoes, corn, onions, cucumbers tossed with balsamic vinegar

2 Flipped-Finger Chicken Good Y'all...

It's been a while since we've purchased chicken. Normally I prefer to get the frozen chicken tenderloin from Trader Joe's trusting their label that the animal was living a good free range life without steroid injections. The past week or so saw me pulling the chicken out of the fridge and grilling it with various seasonings.

The meal below:

Mixed Green Salad with Radishes and Cucumbers; Grilled Brussel Sprouts with Yukon Potatoes + sauteed onions and garlic; Grilled Chicken rubbed in rosemary seasoning mix splashed with Balsamic Vinegar + Worcestershire.

I was very pleased with the meal. I tried a new approach for cooking the chicken which involved only turning it twice. Historically I'm guilty of flipping the chicken a number of times while it cooks. For this I cooked it on medium for 5 minutes on each side and presto. Good tasting chicken seared on the outside tender on the inside. Boom!

the salad days...

For the last 3 years my new years resolutions have included eating more veggies. With that goal i have had many great experiences making various kinds of salads. The one below was extremely delicious. Let's see if I can remember what was in it:

1) mixed greens
2) shredded brussel sprouts
3) carrots
4) 3 pepper blend
5) black beans
6) grilled chicken tenderloin marinated in a rosemary spice blend
7) tomatoes
8) onions
9) sliced boiled eggs
10) shredded cheddar cheese



With all the different flavors in the salad I did not really need a dressing but I did put a splash of balsamic vinegar on it.

3 reasons I can't quit outback...Outback Steakhouse

i like a nice local restaurant as much as the next foodie...but there are some chains that have some of my favorite meals -- in this case Outback Steak House. no we don't get the steaks from there. as promised below -- the 3 reasons why I can't quit outback steakhouse


1) fresh honey wheat bread. it's good. they bring out as much as you like. in this case since we are dieting in some sense we limited our selves to 2 loafs -- each one has 310 calories


2) great blue cheese pecan chopped salad. this was a new item a couple of years ago and is wonderful. blue cheese, spiced pecans, lettuce, with some kinda vinaigrette. off the wall. <569>

3) my favorite place for affordable yummy seared tuna. comes with 2 tasty sauces. a creamy ginger soy sauce and a wasabi vinaigrette. <260>


the wife and i even had a glass of wine each to wash down everything. is there anything wrong with not ordering steak and beers from outback? i feel slightly self-conscious ordering it -- but it does not disappoint. i also can't think of a place in columbus that has better seared tuna. akai hana is pretty good, barrel 44 comes with a cracker, lemon grass not so much...let me know of some good tuna places...at $8.50 nothing is coming close.