Grilled Chicken Thighs with Charred Corn, Cherry Tomato and Basil Salad

This recipe might not break the internet with it's ingenuity, but

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it just might go into the regular rotation of easy summer meals that showcase the best of the seasons produce, as it has at our house.

Speaking of….

There are heaps of things I love about summer - the long days, balmy post-dinner strolls, my kids slithering downstairs at 9am with bedhead and those golden “little kid tans” I call them (oh, and the inevitable mosquito bites from sleepaway camp of course) -  it’s the time of year when schedules seem more suggestions to be shrugged off rather than militant agendas, and any adulting can “be back after lunch”. 

But for me, one of the best parts of summer is, of course, the food (shocker, I know). As a chef, it’s the easiest time of year to cook. The colorful, ripe produce at its peak does all the heavy lifting, and quite frankly makes me look good. Just stroll through any Farmers Market - this is the red carpet season for fruits and veggies, and it’s nearly impossible not to be inspired. 

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With delicious, seasonal produce the MVP of dinner, the grill acts as closing pitcher, delivering a meal that is effortlessly delicious and no fuss to prepare. And not to belabor the use of a grill (I realize I made you grill figs last week), but I cannot repeat ad nauseam overemphasize the virtues of a grill enough (which, by the way, does not have to be an outdoor grill. I use my indoor cast iron grill far more frequently than my outdoor grill). 

*My best friend Katie is glaring at me from afar right now who lacks a proper stove hood to accommodate an indoor grill and would sooner traverse Mt. Everest than grill something outdoors - sorry honey, Fall and all it’s recipes will be here soon, I promise).

I digress…. I don’t know anyone that would prefer a flabby, humiliated steamed carrot to a smokey and caramelized one that has had every inch of its sweetness and complexity coaxed out of it (friend, have you ever had a grilled carrot? If not, step away from this screen and go grill one, you’re welcome).

Grilling takes the ordinary and transforms it into the extraordinary. The high heat caramelizes the natural sugars in foods, resulting in