Grilled Chicken Breasts, Raw Corn & Radish Salad, Sliced Tomatoes

It's the middle of summer, a gazillion degrees outside and you cannot imagine standing next to an indoor cooking appliance, much less firing it up and cooking dinner......let's all call for take out.  BUT, hold on,  you can make a fabulous dinner as long as you have some super fresh corn and a grill.  I noticed this corn and radish salad recipe in the no-cook section of Food and Wine's website (check it out, there are 107 recipes!).   I was off to the farmers' market this morning where I could pick up some aforementioned FRESH corn and this salad would be a great complement to the grilled chicken recipe I saw in today's NY Times (kudos to Mark Bittman, one of my favorite chefs, a minimalist just like me!).  If you don't have a source for fresh picked corn (those ears in the grocery store are NOT fresh picked), all is not lost.  You can easily grill the corn.  Remove the husks, rub all over with olive oil and grill, turning often.  There will be some browned kernels, but that's ok, it's still yummy!

Raw Corn & Radish Salad with Spicy Lime Dressing, serves 2, total time:  25 mins.

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 small jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

3/4 tsp honey

1/8 tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 ears fresh corn, shucked and kernels cut off the cob

3 medium radishes, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tbsp red onion, chopped

Combine the lime juice, jalapeno, honey and cumin.  Drizzle olive oil while whisking to incorporate.  Season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, toss the corn, radishes, parsley, red onion and dressing.  Season with salt and pepper.

Grilled Chicken Breasts Stuffed With Herb Butter, serves 2, total time:  45 mins

2 tbsp butter, softened

1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon, basil, chives or other herb

2 bone-in chicken breasts (I used boneless with skin)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Extra virgin olive oil as needed

Lemon wedges for serving

Prepare the grill, heat should be medium high, but one area of the grill should be cool for indirect cooking.  In a small bowl, using a fork, combine butter and herbs.  

With a sharp-bladed knife, cut a 2-3-inch slit in the deepest part of the chicken.  Fill with as much herb butter as possible; rub some under the skin as well.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and brush with oil.

When the grill is ready, put chicken skin-side up on the cool side of the grill.  After some fat has been rendered, turn chicken; if it flares up, move to an even cooler part of the grill or turn skin side up again.  When skin has lost its raw look and most of the fat has been rendered, after 20 mins or so, move chicken directly over fire.  Cook, turning now and then, until both sides are browned and flesh is firm and cooked through, 5-10 minutes longer.  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.

Bottom Line:  Nice combination.  The chicken was very moist and although we didn't eat the skin, it was nice and crispy.  Also, the cooking method really paid off.  So many times our chicken has looked like we dragged it through the coals, but as you can see, this way of indirect cooking saved us.  My chicken took the full 30 mins to cook, even though it was boneless.  The breasts were large (there are no small chickens out there....) and, as I've said, our grill is not a mega BTU job (one day), so you may have to adjust the cooking time depending on whether your chicken is boned as well as the grill you are working with.