Chicken with Summer Vegetable Salsa

This dish was born at this year's summer feast hosted by "our farm," Homestead Farm, a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm near Millington, Maryland. Forty of us, including the people who actually own and work the farm, Luke and Allison Howard, gathered for a feast -- that we had to prepare. Most of the ingredients were grown right there on the farm. We were divided into teams, and each team worked on one -- or in some cases (like Kathleen and me) two -- dishes.

The first dish we worked on -- a salsa for one of the appetizers -- didn't have a recipe. We just chopped and added ingredients into the bowl and came up with -- something delicious! Really, truly delicious. Kathleen and I loved it so much, we made sure to write down the ingredients before we forgot.

This salsa is too good to be relegated to a dip accompanied by chips. Then it hit me: use it as an accompaniment to chicken. What an inspiration! The combination of flavors and textures (the lightly crispy chicken and the perfectly ripe vegetables) makes this a summer-time hit.

Chicken with Summer Vegetable Salsa is a fleeting pleasure, to be enjoyed when vine-ripened tomatoes are plentiful. Don't even think of trying this with canned tomatoes or even hot-house tomatoes.

Serves 4

2 ears of corn
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil -- divided
4 tomatoes (vine-ripened), seeds removed and chopped -- about 3 cups (These can be red tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, or a mix)
1 cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped the same size as the tomatoes -- about 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup of finely chopped red onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
salt
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tablespoons butter

Shuck the corn, then rub with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Grill the corn on all sides until there are slight brownish black grill marks (about 6-10 minutes total). Remove corn from grill and set aside to cool.

Combine chopped tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, garlic and half of the cilantro into a bowl. When the corn is cool enough to touch, remove the kernels from the cobs with a sharp knife. Add the corn to the bowl with the other vegetables. Add salt to taste. (Yes, that means be sure to taste it. You may need to add more cilantro and salt, which is why you should hold back from adding all the cilantro at the beginning).

Set the salsa aside while you prepare the chicken.

Put the flour on a plate. Dredge the chicken in the flour, being sure to coat the entire surface of each breast. Shake off the excess flour. Heat the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter melts, add the chicken. Cook on the first side for 4-5 minutes till golden brown. Flip using tongs. Cook the second side for another 4-5 minutes. (Be sure to check that the chicken is completely cooked through by slightly cutting open the thickest part of the largest breast. Eating raw chicken is neither appetizing nor healthy.)

Plate the chicken. Spoon the salsa over each portion. And avoid the temptation to be greedy -- divide the salsa evenly!