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Grilling season is dreams away for many, while we in Southern California – as though the weather gods add insult to injury for the rest of the county – have been blessed with sunny, warm winter dayd. Remember it all goes with away with a shattering 4.+ on the richter or a swelling mudslide. The sunshine is why we tolerate traffic and “like” in our statements that sound like questions and know that our value gets determined by proximity to George Clooney and that the Kardashians were invented here and that we live in a place where “work” means plastic surgery not employment. Someone once told me that life in Colorado is determined by your relationship to the mountain – in Southern California, it’s your relationship to the ‘industry’. Like the Rockies mountain range, there only one industry in Los Angeles . Please let us have our sunshine and warmth and be smitten.

Way over to the Midwest, however, Indiana to be specific, is where my cousins are suffering from frigid blustery days and where we get today’s cooking trick. Bob, my cousin by marriage – really, he’s my cousin’s ex-wife’s husband – so like a cousin by marriage and divorce, not really a relative at all, but I think of him as Cousin Bob. His step-daughter calls me Aunt Sherri even though I’m her second cousin. Sometimes people just fit into a role rather than an actual title. So Bob makes as it is called “Bob’s Chicken.” What About Bob? that I love is that he’s one of the few guys I know who gets excited to shop for groceries, so you know this is a guy who’s figured out some things about food. Bob’s Chicken is certifiably juicy, sharply flavored, leftover resilient and criminally, shamefully, woefully easy. What’s Bob’s secret?

Italian salad dressing.

Yep, Bob douses chicken in bottled dressing and it’s a winning, crunchtime go-to for so many reasons: you probably have Italian dressing in your fridge now, leftovers are fab and juicy and you know, made in a pinch.

Here we’ve gone Mediterranean with Italian seasoning from the Indiana-inspired creation. Craving shish kabobs after having a delectable plate at an odd cross-culture restaurant outside of Scottsdale. My friend Anders and I knew something was quirky there with their cowboy meets Med fare. Hummus nachos, quinoa fritters, veggie & bison burgers – this conflicted menu comes from a Philly-born cowboy and his Greek partner who, on Sundays offer an incredible brunch and then lunch not one minute before 2. Like I said quirky.

With the help of bell peppers, onions, Italian seasonings and Italian dressing, these ka-Bobs are ka-brilliant for weeknight meals. If you can’t find your grill under the snow drift, a stove-top sear or broiler charred method will work too.