Grilled Satay-Style Chicken Breast with Thai Peanut-Sauced Veggie-Noodle Salad

Grilled Satay-Style Chicken Breast with Thai Peanut-Sauced Noodle-Veggie Salad

     Last summer (which in Houston could mean most months but December and January) I used a store-bought bottled peanut sauce several times for grilling chicken breasts and dressing a cold veggie-noodle salad - and I was pretty happy with the results.  Naturally I doctored-up the sauce, so much so that I might as well have made it from scratch to begin with!  But as I've mentioned I am slow to try new things and the gazillions of peanut sauce recipes on the internet were intimidating.  But the hot weather is back so I went phishing (just kidding!) again and found a recipe with wonderful reviews, few ingredients and was a snap to make.  Of course I had to change it - that's just how I roll...  The recipe I used is from About.com. and this link will take you to it.  I adjusted the recipe because I didn't have all the ingredients (I had grocery shopped for a different recipe), then when I tried the finished sauce I found it just a little bland for my taste.  If you like Asian-style peanut sauce, a variety of vegetables and want an easy summer meal I hope you'll try one of these recipes and make it your own.

Thai Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (ground at the store or jarred)
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
• 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili paste (cayenne, chili garlic sauce or Tabasco are possible substitutes for chili and Sriracha - you just want some heat)
• 1/3 cup light coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Putting it Together:

     Put everything in a food processor and pulse until blended - the natural peanut butter gives it a nice texture.  I like lots of heat and the garlic, ginger, chili paste and Sriracha contribute to the heat factor so if you prefer less heat I would suggest starting out with a bit less of each of them - you can always add more.  Just keep tasting until it's right for you.  

     This recipe made about 1-1/4 cups of sauce and weighed in at 30 Points on recipe Builder.  I felt that 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) made for a reasonable individual serving so that's 10 servings at 3 points each.  There is nothing "diet" about this sauce but being aware of the Points value and serving size will make it Weight Watcher-friendly, especially when paired with high-fiber noodles and loads of raw veggies.  

Sauce-dressed veggies waiting for dinner

My veggie choices

     

     I used a half of a green pepper, three quarters from a red, an orange and a yellow pepper (they were on sale and leftover from a salad), 2 smaller carrots, 2 stalks of celery, very thin slices of Texas sweet onion, and 2 large kale leaves cut into strips.  Use what you think will be compatible and what's in your frig.  I had asparagus, cauliflower and broccoli in the frig but they just didn't seem "right"; I could have added scallions, Napa cabbage, purple cabbage or pea pods if I'd had them (hindsight is 20/20). 

     I marinated 2 trimmed chicken breasts which had been cut into 4 somewhat equal strips in 2 servings of the peanut sauce (for about 5 hours) and not a discernible amount of sauce was actually "used."  I don't do the thin satay-style strips on a skewer because they're so easy to overcook and they are dry.  Before grilling I set the chicken atop a wire rack to drip and sprayed them with cooking spray before putting them on the hot grill.  You other grillers know a drippy piece of meat is going to stick big-time!

     I cut my veg (while the pasta water was heating up) and put some peanut sauce from the frig on top to "marry" the flavors.  This salad could all be done ahead of time and I have done so, but the high fiber pasta I like just gets too softened so I do it on-demand when I'm able.  I drained the cooked pasta (al dente) and put in it lots of ice and cold water so I can mind the chicken on the grill with no distractions.  The chicken strips just take a few minutes (about 8 minutes) - I'd cut down each breast at an angle into 2 strips to even out the thickness (same concept for pounding out the breasts for baked chicken) so they cook quickly and don't dry out.   

     I have to be pretty accurate when counting carbs for my husband with Juvenile (Type I) Diabetes so he can then be accurate when he boluses insulin, so I usually measure our pasta servings into our bowls and then top with sauce, etc. - and it works for me, too.  Our daughter has had Juvenile Diabetes since she was 4 years old so measuring foods has been a lifestyle chore/choice I've had to adopt (explains a lot, right?). 

     Pasta servings in their bowls tossed with sauce-dressed veggies, rested chicken on top and dinner is ready!  Next time I won't forget the chopped cilantro sprinkle...

     This was so delicious!  The chicken was very moist and came in handy for sauce mop-up.  The water from the pasta and veg made the sauce go further and all the crunching made it impossible for me to rush (we talked about slowing down when eating at this week's Weight Watcher meeting).  My veggies were all raw (0 Points), a two-ounce serving of Smart Taste angel hair (5 Points), 5 ounces grilled chicken breast (5 Points) and 2 servings of peanut sauce (6 Points) makes a grand total of 16 Points.  This is one of my higher Points dinners so I may use only half the sauce next time or replace the chicken with fresh Gulf shrimp (yum!) to knock off a few Points - but it was definitely a restaurant-quality meal but with no eater's remorse!