Grilled Mexican Corn and Black Bean Salad

Fourth of July. The third annual Rivera cookout, now officially a neighborhood institution. I've given up pretending it's a small gathering. It's not small. It hasn't been small since 2015. This year: thirty-two people. Jessica counted. Thirty-two people in our backyard, eating food I cooked, drinking things I made, watching fireworks over Phoenix while my very pregnant wife sat in a lawn chair with her feet in a bucket of ice water because Arizona in July is not designed for third-trimester comfort.

The menu has become its own tradition: smoked ribs (Station 19 rub, three-two-one method, reduced wrap time per my competition fix), grilled corn with chipotle-lime butter, watermelon-jalapeño salad, pulled pork sliders, burgers for the kids, and this year's addition — smoked queso. Take a cast iron skillet, fill it with Velveeta (yes, Velveeta, this is not the time for artisan cheese), canned Ro-Tel tomatoes, smoked chorizo, and a diced jalapeño, and smoke it for two hours at 225 degrees. The smoke infuses the queso and turns it from a party dip into a life experience. It was the first thing to disappear. Before the ribs. Before the sliders. The smoked queso. Thirty-two people and a cast iron skillet of cheese and nobody was ashamed.

Sofia wore her patriotic outfit — red shirt, blue shorts, white shoes that were white for approximately four minutes before she found a mud puddle that shouldn't exist in the desert but which she manifested through sheer willpower. She ran with the other kids, sparklers in hand (held by Jessica's friend Megan, because I don't trust a three-year-old with fire, even if I am a firefighter). She said "boom" at every firework, which is the correct response.

My dad was in his element. He'd brought his carne asada — of course — and set up his portable grill next to my smoker and the two of us worked the crowd like bartenders at a busy joint, plates going out, compliments coming in, the smell of smoke and meat drifting over the neighborhood like a message: come hungry, leave full. Mr. Delgado came with Rosa and her family. Orozco brought his entire extended family, which is large. Jessica's coworkers came. The old lady from three doors down came because she smelled the smoke and followed it, which is exactly how communities are supposed to work.

At midnight, after everyone left and Sofia was asleep and Jessica was lying on the couch with her feet up, I sat in the backyard in the dark and ate one last rib, cold, standing up, and I thought: next Fourth of July, Diego will be almost a year old. He'll be here. In this yard. Under these fireworks. At this table. The table that keeps growing. I can't wait.

The grilled corn has been on the Rivera cookout menu since year one — it’s non-negotiable. But thirty-two people means you can’t just hand everyone an ear and call it a side dish, and with my dad’s carne asada and my smoker both running at full capacity, I needed something that could carry its own weight on the table. This Grilled Mexican Corn and Black Bean Salad is exactly that: all the charred, smoky corn flavor we love, stretched into a dish you can scoop and pass around, with black beans for substance and a lime dressing bright enough to cut through the heat of a Phoenix July.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

6 ears fresh corn, husked
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 cup cotija cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Heat the grill. Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat (about 400°F). Brush the husked corn lightly with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
Grill the corn. Place corn directly on the grates and grill for 8–10 minutes, turning every 2 minutes, until kernels are charred in spots and fragrant. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.
Cut the kernels. Stand each ear upright on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to slice the kernels off the cob from top to bottom. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Build the salad. Add the black beans, red bell pepper, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro to the bowl with the corn. Toss gently to combine.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, salt, and black pepper until emulsified.
Dress and finish. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat evenly. Taste and adjust salt or lime as needed. Top with crumbled cotija and serve at room temperature or chilled.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grilled Mexican Corn and Black Bean Salad — The Side That Kept Up with the Smoker