no. 157: the HOTTEST summer BBQ menu

Michelada beer can chicken, grilled corn-halloumi salad, and agua frescas!

Last weekend, my friend Lily and I made an epic summer BBQ menu on her rooftop grill for no apparent reason other than culinary INNOVATION. I cannot recommend doing this enough. We made four recipes, all of which are shared below—Michelada beer can chicken, a grilled corn & halloumi salad, Modelo agua frescas, and nerd clusters & cherries on ice. All were divine.

What started this all is that I saw my friend, Olivia, make a beer can chicken, and I knew I had to make one, too. I LIKE CHICKEN. I LIKE BEER. I MUST MAKE BEER CAN CHICKEN.

I was telling Lily about my beer can chicken desires, and then we had the idea to make a MICHELADA beer can chicken by making a special michy-esque spice rub and serving the chicken with a bacon-pickle aioli* (a la classic michelada garnishes).

For the sake of transparency, we intended to work in some tomato powder to the michelada spice rub, but the geniuses at Amazon could not get it to us in time for this urgent grilling endeavor. Something to try for the next one!

Once we decided we were gonna grill a chicken, it only made sense to throw a side in there. So, we landed on a grilled corn and halloumi salad (which uses the same aioli as the chicken). And since it was a real scorcher that day, we needed something to keep us cool, and we already had a 6-pack of Modelo, so an agua fresca fit the bill.

Lastly, I had gone over for dinner a week prior, and we tragically did not arrange a sweet treat, which was a huge mistake because we both were in dire need of one. To avoid another situation as such, we decided to go the easy route and do cherries & nerd clusters on ice for dessert. Thankfully both are in season right now.

If you’ve never had a Nerd Cluster, LET THIS BE YOUR SIGN. They were honestly so refreshing on ice, though if you let the ice melt, it will become a scary, soupy, weirdly-colored mess. The clusters’ sour, fruity flavor was perfect between bites of cherry. We used a mix of Rainbow and Very Berry. Mark my words, I will be serving this again.

This summer, I am really challenging myself to consume Modelos in as many original, inspired ways as I possibly can, and so far the count is at THREE. First, is my spicy cucumber-passion fruit michelada from a couple weeks ago. Second, is the Modelo agua fresca that is part of this week’s summer bbq menu (more below), and third is this passion fruit shandy that I made for my friend Katie’s dinner party last week.

Pepper is a passion fruit shandy girl, too.

Basically, we made a passion fruit lemonade and then topped them with Modelo. They were unsurprisingly HEAVEN. Who knew that Modelo is good with anything?! Let me know if you want the recipe for ‘em!

*Random side note, but I went on another heinous date where the guy said he hated mayonnaise but doesn’t mind aioli. It’s an epidemic. Make it STOP!

Michelada Beer Can Chicken

Serves: 4-6

Active time: 25 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes