Grilled chicken salad with corn and watermelon is summer in a bowl

My childhood memories of the months between the end of one school year and the beginning of the next are a blur of green grass, sticky skin and the smell of charcoal smoldering in our family's stout black Weber. Those summers - and the food we ate on our back patio - are the inspiration for this salad of grilled chicken and corn on a bed of crunchy lettuce tossed with fresh tomatoes and watermelon. It's summertime in a bowl.

In Chicago, when we threw food on the grill - corn, chicken, sausages or patties - we called it barbecuing. When we invited friends over, we told them we were having "a barbecue." This colloquial use of "barbecue" to refer to a meal or event is so common that it's in the dictionary.

It wasn't until I started to study food culture as a young adult that I learned that some people bristle at this usage. Especially for practitioners of the craft in the American South, barbecuing is a specific style of cooking food. That event in your backyard that involves a grill? They'd call it "a cookout." To them, to barbecue means to cook food over indirect heat.

My Washington Post colleague Tim Carman, a barbecue aficionado and practitioner, notes that this heat often comes from smoldering hardwoods. The food might be cooked in a smoker - a contraption that can resemble a grill - or in a pit, or on a spit rotating over a flame. As my Post colleague Aaron Hutcherson recently wrote, "Smoke is one of the defining characteristics of barbecue - it's what differentiates barbecue from grilling."

No matter your preference, I hope you agree that something gorgeous happens when food meets fire. It's not just the transfer of heat from flames to food, it's not just the transition in state from raw to cooked. It's the mysterious depth that vegetables and proteins pick up when they're infused with the right kind of smoke, or just licked by live, quivering flames. I don't have any concrete statistics, but because of the fickle and challenging nature of true barbecue, I'm going to guess that most of us are throwing food on a grill until it's cooked. Smoke might be involved, but it's not the primary cooking method. And that's fine! Grilling is great.

For this grilled chicken salad, you'll start by seasoning boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Let them hang out and absorb those flavors. Meanwhile, mix up a quick, ketchup-based barbecue sauce and stir together a simple, herby salad dressing. Next, heat up your grill. You want it good and hot - and you want the grates to be clean and well-greased! - before you put on a couple of ears of corn and the seasoned chicken.

The corn is done when it's speckled brown and black all the way around. The chicken is done when a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each thigh reads 150 to 165 degrees. (The safe zone starts at 165, but if you pull it off a little early, the residual heat will cause the temperature to continue to rise.) As soon as the chicken is done, dunk it in the barbecue sauce. I like to use tongs to make sure each piece is fully coated with sauce. Then, I throw the chicken back on the hot grill for a few minutes so the sauce turns into a glaze. This is admittedly going to make your grill a little messy, but I promise: It's worth it.

(No grill? Pull out a grill pan or your cast-iron skillet! This can all be done on your stove, too.)

After that second stint on the grill, let the chicken rest while you assemble the salads. You could make one big salad or four individual ones. I like to scatter the lettuce, tomatoes and watermelon evenly among shallow bowls. Then, I'll cut the corn off the cobs and add the kernels to each salad. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and then chop the chicken into big bite-size pieces before adding it to the salad. Garnish each bowl with a few leaves of fresh basil, for maximum summertime flavor.

This salad is just the thing to eat on a warm summer evening as dusk turns to dark, fireflies twinkling in the distance.

Grilled Chicken Salad With Corn, Tomatoes and Watermelon

TOTAL TIME: 50 minutes

SERVINGS: 4

With watermelon, corn, grilled chicken and tomatoes, this salad is like a summer barbecue in a bowl. If you don't have a grill, you can also cook the corn and chicken in a cast-iron skillet or grill pan on the stove. To save time, use store-bought barbecue sauce and a creamy dressing of your choice.

To make this vegetarian, in place of the chicken use roasted chickpeas, seasoned with a little smoked paprika, or 14 ounces of smoked tofu, sliced into four hunks and seared in a pan or on the grill. Drizzle with the barbecue sauce before adding to the salad.

Storage: Refrigerate salad, chicken and dressing separately for up to 4 days

For the chicken

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1 to 1 1/2 pounds total), patted dry

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

• Vegetable oil, for grilling

For the barbecue sauce

• 1/3 cup ketchup

• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, any kind (optional)

For the dressing

• 1/2 cup vegan plain yogurt

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or pickle brine

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill or basil (may substitute 1 teaspoon dried dill or basil)

• 1 teaspoon honey

For the salad

• 2 ears corn, shucked

• 6 ounces (6 packed cups) chopped crunchy lettuce leaves, such as romaine or Little Gem

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

• 2 cups (12 ounces) cubed watermelon

• Leaves from 2 sprigs fresh basil, for serving (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Season the chicken: Sprinkle the chicken all over with the onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Set aside to absorb the seasonings.

Make the barbecue sauce: In a medium bowl, stir together the ketchup, cider vinegar, honey, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, if using, until combined.

Make the dressing: In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, cider vinegar or pickle brine, dill or basil, and honey.

Prepare a grill for direct heat. If using a gas grill, preheat to 450 degrees. If using a charcoal grill, light the briquettes and when they are gray and hot distribute them evenly under the grates. For a 450-degree grill, you should be able to hold your hand about 4 inches above the coals for about 5 seconds.

Using tongs, hold a folded paper towel dipped in vegetable oil and use it to grease a section of the hot grates. Place the corn and seasoned chicken on the greased grates, cover and grill for 5 minutes, or until grill marks form. Flip or rotate, and grill for another 5 minutes. The chicken is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each thigh registers 165 degrees. The corn is done when it is evenly charred all around.

Dip each thigh into the bowl of barbecue sauce, tossing until it's evenly coated with sauce. Return the chicken to the grill for a minute or two, flipping once, to allow the sauce to turn into a glaze. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board.

Slice the kernels off the corn cobs and chop the chicken into bite-size pieces.

Divide the lettuce among four bowls or plates. Scatter the tomatoes, watermelon and corn on top and lightly drizzle with the dressing. Top with the chicken, garnish with the basil leaves, if using, and serve.

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