Grilled Chicken with Corn and Black Bean Salad

August 7, 2016 Laura

I’ve lost all control of our routine. We’ve just passed the middle mark of summer vacation (we don’t go back until September 6^th) and the strict routine I keep for Scarlett has gone completely out the window. It didn’t just flutter out like a light breeze; its been snapped out like porch furniture in a twister. Not only is Scarlett going to bed way past her normal bedtime, she watches too much television, eats ice cream like it’s a vital food group and has completely abandoned brushing her hair. Of all of it, the hair part is the most worrisome to me. I’m sure we’re going to need to Billy Zane her head at the end of these long and lazy weeks at our summer beach cottage and that, in her eyes, will be the end of her life. The only routine we’ve improved upon is our meals.

We have so much local produce at our fingertips I’m baking and cooking with abandon. And here’s the weirdest part, I’m happy cooking. No seriously. I’m loving coming up with ideas like corn fritter tacos and Chinese 5 spice roasted chicken (all coming to the site soon) because it all feels so darn easy. Not that I don’t normally enjoy cooking (obviously) but I’m actively over cooking—trying to come up with more reasons to get into the kitchen. Why is that? Does summer meal prep feel snappier because we’re outside standing at a grill with a drink? Or is it because everything is so fresh and can go from farm to table with less fiddling in between? Maybe it’s both. And, don’t you worry; feel free to throw all this chipper, Marcia Brady I’m-so-happy-cooking nonsense in my face in January when I lay on the couch sobbing over another damn chili that needs to be made. Until then, I’ll be tearing through our area’s local corn.

This dish is actually a mash-up of two of our own recipes. The corn salad is an oldie but goodie that made it to the site in our early days and the marinade for the chicken is pulled from a recipe that never made it to the site. (Yes, we have a recipe graveyard.) The corn salad is one of my all-time favorites, and I use it weekly during the summer. It also makes a lot. I mean a real lot so you’ll likely have leftovers that you can spin into a new dish. Tacos, anyone? As for the chicken, it is easy with a capital E so you really have no excuse to make it–Unless of course the thing that was ripped from your routine was cooking. In that case, carry on with scrambled eggs. We love those too.

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Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
2 cups (475 ml) fresh or frozen and thawed corn kernels or four, large ears kernals cut from the cob
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 cups (475 ml) no-salt-added cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1/3 cup (80 ml) cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Marinade
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
2 Tbsp (30 ml) fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp (15 ml) honey
pinch salt and pepper
Dressing
2 Tbsp (30 ml) fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
1 tsp (5 ml) honey
Pinch salt and pepper

Method

Preheat your grill.

Place your frozen corn in a bowl to thaw as you work on everything thing else. If you’re using fresh corn, start a large pot of boiling water to cook it. Or cook it on the grill for a big pop of roasted flavor.

In small bowl, whisk together your marinade ingredients. Use about 2/3 of it to coat your chicken on a plate.

Rinse onions in cold water, drain and place in a large bowl along with the black beans, red pepper and cilantro. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over black bean mixture. Stir in the corn.

Grill the chicken for 10 minutes over medium/high heat. Turn over and grill for another 10 minutes. Serve chicken with the corn and black bean mixture. Top with cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

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