easy meal for a hot day - donna's daily dish

Recently, I came across a tasty sounding recipe that was in The New York Times newspaper. The recipe, Grilled Chicken with Tomatoes and Corn, is from Ali Slagle. If you enjoy Jersey tomatoes, this recipe utilizes them along with fresh corn, boneless chicken thighs, extra-virgin olive oil, chili powder, kosher salt, red onion and fresh oregano leaves. The recipe comes together in 30 minutes.

This recipe calls for uncooked corn kernels. After reading other readers comments, I decided to blanch my corn for a mere minute. I also used boneless, skinless, chicken breasts in lieu of thighs and seasoned them about an hour ahead of cooking. One suggestion from the comments I decided to follow was to do a quick pickle of the sliced red onions.

I plated the thinly sliced tomatoes on the outer rim of the platter. The cut corn kernels were placed in the middle. The red onion was placed on top and garnished with freshly chopped oregano, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. The chicken was grilled for approximately 5-7 minutes per side. Once it hit temperature, I let the chicken rest before placing it on top of the vegetables.

The presentation of this dish was impressive. Fresh, seasonal ingredients made for a wonderful meal. The corn and tomatoes were from Matt’s Farm Market, in Belmar. Both were firm and sweet. I’m glad I pickled the onions as it took a bit of the bite out. The fresh oregano was a lovely compliment to the seasonal ingredients.

The weather is going to be hot this weekend. This is a perfect meal to pull together with little effort. As one comment said, they were going to prepare this meal for a dinner party of 10 as it was that good. I couldn’t agree more. I would suggest a nice crusty loaf of bread to go along with this dish to sop the juices.

Grilled Chicken with Tomatoes and Corn
By Ali Slagle, The New York Times
“Here to Help Column”

Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, patted dry
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the grill grates
1 tablespoon chili powder
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
1½ pounds large ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 ear of corn, kernels cut from the cob (about 1 cup kernels)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves (optional)

Preparation

Heat the grill to medium-high. In a medium bowl, coat the chicken with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the chili powder and ½ teaspoon salt; set aside. (You can do this step up to 1 day ahead; refrigerate and bring to room temperature before cooking.)
On a large platter, layer the tomatoes, corn kernels, red onion and fresh oregano (if using). Season with ¾ teaspoon salt and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.
When ready to grill, clean the grates with a grill brush, then lightly grease the grates. Grill the chicken until browned and cooked through, and it releases easily from the grates, 5 to 7 minutes per side. (If flare-ups occur, move the chicken to an area of the grill with smaller flames underneath. For a gas grill, close the lid between flips, listening and peeking occasionally for flare-ups.)
Transfer the chicken to the platter. Let rest for 5 to 20 minutes before serving.

pdf grilled_chicken_with_tomatoes_and_corn.pdf