Chicken Saté with Peanut Sauce

Try something different for dinner!
Chicken Saté with Peanut Sauce (if you have a nut allergy you can use sunflower butter)

SATE´ (pronounced sah teh)
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into 8 strips
1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons Tamari Sauce

2 teaspoons bottled ground fresh ginger
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 inch skewers (soak for 30 min in water before putting on the grill to keep them from burning up and charring)
1 can coconut milk
cooking spray

sauce for dipping
1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons tamari sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 Tablespoons natural-style peanut or sunflower butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 garlic clove, minced

Directions
*****THE NIGHT BEFORE - SOAK CHICKEN IN COCONUT MILK (GALLON SIZED BAGGIE) in the refrigerator.*****
Start up the grill!

Prepare the saté by combining chicken and next 6 ingredients (through the garlic) in a bowl. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 10 min - I prefer 2 hours.

Prepare the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. Stir until sugars dissolve.

Thread chicken onto each of the skewers. Place chicken on grill coated with cooking spray. Grill for 2- minutes per side. Serve immediately with sauce.

PERSONAL NOTE: This serves 4 so we double the recipe. This is good cold and could be included in a lunch box.  (might be advisable to snip the tip of the skewer or un-skewer the meat)
If the sauce is too thick, I thin it a bit with mirin. We serve this with a salad.

Chicken Pineapple Summer Salad Recipe

You can make this all year long but it is very nice and refreshing! This is a crowd favorite at a party.

Ingredients
1.5 Cups grilled chicken (I prefer mine marinated in teriyaki marinade)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil Mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Wasabi Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon honey mustard
1/2 teaspoon ginger (dried, ground)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon mirin or rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon pineapple juice
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled (Feta will work well)
1 tomato chopped
1 cucumber
2 teaspoons mango chutney
1/2 cup nuts of your choice (optional)
1 large egg, hard boiled, sliced thin rounds
Lettuce
Gluten Free Chow Mein Noodles

Directions
Mix all ingredients except for the last three.
Serve in a bowl with iceberg or butter lettuce surrounding the sides, the chicken mixture should be mounded in the middle, the hard boiled egg slices can line the side of the bowl laying on the lettuce around. Sprinkle the top of the chicken mixture with Gluten Free Chow Mein Noodles. Beautiful presentation. Serve with crackers cucumber rounds or flatbread alongside.

Gluten Free Chow Mein Noodles

Bare with me...I am going somewhere with this...

If you have left over noodle from making spaghetti, this is a great way to use them up. Traditionally, chow mein noodles are served below vegetables, chicken etc. They are meant to be a bit crispy.

Either cook up some noodles or use the leftovers. Rinse them thoroughly with cold water (two times won't hurt) and then coat them with 1 teaspoon sesame oil. (you can find this in the Asian food section) A little goes a long way.

In a large non stick skillet heat up 1 tablespoon of vegetable or peanut oil. Add in your noodles and flatten them out to fill the bottom of the pan. Let then "fry" for about 5 min. If you prefer crispier then leave in the pan longer. Use a dinner plate and invert it on top of the noodles in the pan in order to turn the noodles out onto the plate. You are simply using the plate to turn the noodles over. You could use a spatula if you like. Now you will add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and let it heat up for a minute. Slide the noodles back into the pan so that you are now "frying" the other side of the noodles. (you are simply turning them over) Let them cook for another 5 minutes and then you can slide them out onto the plate. The noodles are now crisp.

If you have some leftover vegetables and/or meat you can pan fry them or put them in a wok and serve on top of the chow mein noodles (a sauce or gravy of some kind would be a nice touch) These noodles are great on salad. I am posting a Chicken Pineapple Summer Salad that the chow mein noodles will go on top of before serving.

To Die for Chicken Salad - RECIPE

To Die for Chicken Salad Recipe

So, this is my go to recipe if I have all the ingredients on hand BUT if I don't there are a few you can leave out and it still tastes great!

I have used cooked chicken breasts chopped up, canned chicken and rotisserie chicken (my favorite choice). They all work. If I am using canned chicken, I use Kirkland Signature Premium Chunk Chicken Breast packed in water (you buy this at Costco - they sell it in 8 cans). I have been known to marinate chicken breast in a Teriyaki Merinade over night, grill them and use those in the chicken.

Items you could leave out and it still taste great (Greek yogurt - you could just add more mayo, turmeric, mirin - if you take this out I would add a Tablespoon of sweet relish, candied pecans - you could use plain or any other nut you prefer or leave it out altogether, allspice)

Don't be scared - this is going to look like a lot of ingredients but it is minute amounts of most of them. They are all great to have on hand if you are cooking from my blog and it doesn't take as long as you might think to put it together. THE SAVING GRACE...there is no cooking after you put in the ingredients and mix them together!!!

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts or 2 - 12.5 oz canned chicken or 2.5 cups chicken from a rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup Olive Oil Mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt (I use FAGE)
1 Tablespoon honey mustard (if you don't have it but you have mustard, mix some honey in the mustard)
2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (grated)
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 Tablespoon basil (I love basil so I usually add a bit more)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper (I prefer close to a Tablespoon)
2 Tablespoons mirin (mirin is in the Asian food section close to rice wine vinegar but it is much milder)
1 cup grapes cut in half (pineapple will work well - if you get canned, add a little of the juice in too) You could even add both pineapple and grapes
1 small cucumber diced fine (celery or crisp apples work too)
1/2 cup candied pecans (smashed but large pieces) (you can use any nut you prefer - my kids love these)

Mix it all together and serve it however you like! My favorite way used to be on croissant but alas this is the one item I miss! We serve it on Udi's Cinnamon Raison bread, Udi's sandwich bread, Udi's pizza crust (use it like flat bread) and with Glutino Crackers. It is amazing served at a party on a cucumber round for an appetizer.