Mexican Chicken with Tomato Salsa

This is something that always goes down well on a hot day, it's so refreshing. The cool tomato and corn salsa and mashed avocado with lime juice against the warm spicy chicken, makes it just divine. In Australia we have a hot Christmas, and sometimes the last thing you need when it's about 40 degrees Celsius outside is the oven heating up the house. So, a few years back when it was my turn to host the family, this is what I cooked up on the BBQ for a 'lazy' Christmas lunch. It went down a treat...along with a few festive bevvies thrown in for good measure, and is now a regular at the summer BBQ.

• 1 250 gram punnet of Cherry/Grape Tomatoes
• 1 270 gram can of Corn Kernels
• 1/2 cup fresh Coriander (cilantro), rough chop
• 1/2 small Red Onion, finely chopped
• 2 Spring Onions (scallions), thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil

Wash the tomatoes and cut them into quarters, placing them into a serving bowl. Make sure you give the coriander a good wash too before giving it a rough chop, and toss that in the bowl as well. Now drain the corn kernels popping them, along with the red onion, spring onion, lemon juice and olive oil into the serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper and give it all a good toss to combine. Cover with clingfilm and keep in the fridge until needed.

• 1 tbsp finely grated Lemon Rind
• 2 tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 clove of Garlic, crushed
• 1/4 tsp Chili Powder
• 8 Chicken Thigh Fillets
• 1 or 2 ripe Avocados
• 2 tbsp fresh Lime Juice

Place the lemon rind, juice, oil, garlic and chili powder in a glass or ceramic bowl, add the chicken and turn to coat in the marinade. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour (any longer and the lemon will start to cook the chicken)

Pre heat the BBQ grill on medium and cook the chicken for 4 - 5 minutes each side or until cooked through. You can use the marinade to baste the chicken as it cooks, but make sure that it gets a good heat through after the last baste before you place the chicken on a serving plate, you want to make sure that no one gets sick now as the marinade has had raw chicken in it.

Mash the avocado in a bowl with a fork and add the lime juice, stir to combine. You may wish to do this just before serving so the avocado doesn't turn brown and stays fresh.

Serve the chicken with the mashed avocado on top, the salsa on the side along with some flour tortillas. A crisp cold beer or white wine goes well with this meal. You can also double or halve the recipe to accommodate how many you are cooking for.