Thai-Style Chicken Satay

When I was a teenager, I could not get enough of chicken satay. As a formerly picky eater, getting to eat a skewer full of juicy, flavorful chicken (and not much else) was a dream. Now that I'm older, I enjoy this recipe alongside plenty of colorful, crisp veggies, for a fresh, healthy meal.

This recipe is pretty simple, the main thing is you need to marinate the chicken ahead of time. Usually I skewer the chicken, but most recently I did not, and it worked out just as well (we just needed to use forks). I use the un-skewered chicken in salad bowls, as well.

In this case, I served the chicken with steamed edamame, rice, and a crisp salad of cucumbers, carrots, red bell peppers, and red cabbage, tossed with toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, and sesame seeds.


Ingredients: 

1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp sambal oelek
3 TB soy sauce
2 TB coconut oil
1 tsp honey
1 tsp nut butter (I actually used sunflower seed butter, as our house has jars of it for school lunches).

1-2 lbs boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except for chicken in a bowl or large pyrex type dish (I use one that has a lid to make the future steps easier). Whisk well until the honey and nut butter are mixed into the rest of the ingredients.
2. Add chicken and toss in the marinade to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, if not overnight.
3. If you're using wooden skewers: soak bamboo skewers in water for about 30-60 minutes before you need to use them. Then, put 4-7 pieces of meat on each skewer.
4. You may choose to bbq these skewers, or if you aren't using skewers, use a grill pan inside to cook the pieces of chicken.
5. Grill the chicken over medium/ medium-high heat for 6-10 minutes, or until cooked through, flipping once halfway through cooking.

Serve as an appetizer with a peanut dipping sauce, or put over a bowl of rice and veggies for a healthy, hearty bowl.

Enjoy!