Grilled Lemon Chicken with Sweet Corn and Tomatoes

This is a meal that almost did not make it to completion. It was no fault of the recipe itself which comes from Kristin at Iowa Girl Eats. In fact, I really think it is a genius way to showcase some of summer's best produce, and ended up being a great meal in the end!

The fail in this recipe was entirely user error in cooking the rice. See, I have this great microwavable rice cooker from Pampered Chef that I always use to cook my brown rice. If you even cook brown rice, you know that you have to plan ahead a little bit because it is not a quick cooking process, even in the microwave. Well, I measured the rice, measured the water, started it and continued on with cooking the rest of the recipe. When it was time to add the rice, I pulled it out of the microwave only to discover that it was dry. Like dark brown, overcooked, crusty dry. I still have no idea what went wrong. I hate it when something you always do goes wrong and you have no idea why!

Luckily, I save dinner in a with some pearl couscous from the pantry so that we didn't have to wait forever for more rice to cook. The meal was great. Fresh and light. The flavors were spot on. In retrospect, I think it would have been a little better with the rice as the larger pieces of couscous seemed to compete with the corn and tomatoes, but hey, what can you do? Next time, I will cook the rice correctly, and this meal will be that much more delicious. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Grilled Lemon Chicken with Sweet Corn and Tomatoes
Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients:
Lemon Dressing:
2 lemons, juiced
6 Tbsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste

2 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/2 cup brown basmati rice, prepared according to package directions
1 cup sweet corn, cut off the cob
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup cherry/grape tomatoes, halved or quartered

Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk until combined. Marinate the chicken in about 6 tablespoons of the dressing for about 15-20 minutes. Set extra dressing aside. Grill the chicken on medium-high heat until cooked through and then set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the lemon dressing in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute corn and red onion for 3-4 minutes, or until onion is soft. Mix in cooked rice and remaining lemon dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir cherry tomatoes into corn and rice mixture, plate, the top with grilled chicken. 

Yield: 2 servings