More Summer Grilling: Chicken Satay with Cucumber Mint Salad

 

Well summer is not quite over yet, so the urge to grill is still strong. Before summer comes to an end, you've gotta try out this chicken satay recipe. It's quick and easy and quite healthy too! We did this with our makeshift grilling technique, but the recipe will work on a real grill too.

Making the Dish


What You'll Need
(Serves: 2)

1/4 cup peanut oil
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp Sriracha
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 hothouse cucumber
1 tbsp minced fresh mint
Juice from fresh lime
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Get started by preparing the marinade and getting the chicken nice and flavorful. Combine 1/4 cup peanut oil with 2 teaspoons of Sriracha and a tablespoon of fish sauce. Into that mix the zest of one lime with a teaspoon of coriander and a teaspoon of cumin. Stir together to combine.

Stirring the satay marinade ingredients together

Slice the chicken breast into slices (about three slices per breast), and place them into the marinade. Refrigerate them for about an hour, maybe more depending on how much time you have.

Better keep an eye out on that chicken while it's marinating... or I'll get it.

While the chicken is marinating, get to work on the salad and the cucumber mint salad. Get a nice long, summer fresh cucumber and cut it in half lengthwise and then cut those halves in half lengthwise again. Slice the pieces so that you've got nice little triangle cucumber pieces.

Cucumber triangles

Place these in a bowl and toss them together with the minced fresh mint, a couple teaspoons of fresh lime juice, a touch of granulated sugar, and half a teaspoon of kosher salt. Let it rest while the flavors incorporate for about thirty minutes.

Mixing the cucumber salad ingredients together

We served this with a peanut sauce that we made from the recipe book this came from, but honestly, didn't like it that much. If you know of a peanut sauce recipe that we could try for next time or that other readers might enjoy, let us know about it in the comments!

Threading the chicken slices onto bamboo sticks

After the chicken has finished marinating, remove the excess marinade and thread the chicken down a bamboo stick. Once complete, throw them on a hot grill and cook for about 3 - 4 minutes on the first side, turn, and finish cooking for 1 - 2 minutes on the other side. Since the pieces are so thin, they should cook quickly.

Grilling the chicken satay on skewers

The Result
Served with a nice spoonful of brown rice, this is a quick, tasty, and healthy meal. The marinade gives the chicken a great savory flavor that's balanced beautifully by the slight sweetness from the cucumber mint salad.

Give it a try and let us know what you think! And, if you do know of a good peanut sauce recipe please let us know about it!

Something Different, and Easy: Thai Red Curry with Chicken

 

Sometimes you've had a long day at work, have gotten home late, are totally exhausted, and have no energy to cook. You could go to Chipotle on your way home, or order Chinese takeout, but that's just going to make you feel worse. You need a home cooked meal that takes virtually no effort and no time, but is still flavorful and delicious.

That's when it's time for Semi-Homemade with Bryan and YiRan (like the show on Food Network with a similar title, but with less annoying hosts! And a cat!). With just a few ingredients, and very little time and effort on your behalf, you can have a delicious Thai Red Curry in the comfort of your own home.

Making the Dish

Our protein for this dish is chicken, chopped into cubes. 

On your way home, head to the supermarket and pick up these things: 1) A jar of Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste, 2) A can of coconut milk, 3) some sort of protein (chicken, shrimp, tofu, etc), 4) package of frozen pease, 5) basil, 6) rice.

Basil, cut into thin strips. 

That's it. Its Bryan & YiRan's 6 ingredient fix (OK, promise that was the last Food Network pun of the post).

Once you get home with your ingredients, you are just moments away from having yourself a nice tasty easy meal.

Herbie & the rice cooker.

Start cooking the rice to the package directions. If you have a rice cooker, just do it in there. If you had a rice cooker but your boyfriend broke the lid and made it unusable, you can cook it in a saucepan, but be sure to keep your eye on it.

Cooking our basil and chicken together in the hot wok. 

If you bought a protein you need to cut up, cut it into nice manageable cubes. Additionally, chop up your basil into nice thin strips. Then, throw the meat and basil into a big hot wok with smoking oil.

Whisking the coconut milk into a nice, even consistency. 

While those cook away (and be careful, as it will only take a few minutes!) pour your coconut milk into a bowl and whisk it all around. The milk will have separated in the can, so whisking it gets everything to the right consistency.

Pouring the coconut milk into the basil and chicken. 

After a few minutes of cooking the protein and the basil, add in a cup of the coconut milk and stir everything all together. Let it cook for a few minutes and start to thicken.

Adding the red curry paste. 

Then you can add in the curry paste. We used about a tablespoon, but it's really up to you how much of that curry flavor and spice you want in. Mix it all together so it's nicely combined.

Finally, add in the frozen peas, about a quarter cup or so, and let cook for a minute more so everything is warmed through.

All of the curry ingredients, cooking together. 

You can serve this all over a pile of rice, and enjoy!

The Result

Not a bad version of Thai red curry for a 15 minute effort. It doesn't have the gourmet flavoring that you'd normally get from recipes on this blog, but it's also a much more healthy and satisfying experience than gorging on take out. Additionally, adding the basil and peas really help to bring up the flavor and texture, and make it a more holistic, home cooked experience.

We actually like Thai food quite a bit, so hopefully some of our readers can point us in the direction of some really good Thai recipes we can do the next time we're in the mood! If you know of any, or have any suggestions, leave them in the comments below!


Check out the ingredient list after the jump!