Spicy Summer Peanut Sauce with Chicken and Thai Cucumber Salad

*Post by Angela.

As much as I love our fair city, summer (especially August) in the District can be miserable at times.  Hot, humid, and generally unhappy-making.  And as the temperature and humidity rise, my appetite seems to decrease propotionately.  We got a little taste of that weather this week, and so I turned to my go-to hot weather cuisine, Thai.  Mark found this great recipe in the Express the other day, and I paired it with some chicken skewers and a gorgeously tangy, crunchy, refreshing-to-the-nth-power Thai salad for a perfect hot-weather meal.

List of ingredients for the spicy summer peanut sauce:

• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 cup cilantro, washed and dried (stems included)
• 2-inch by 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup of smooth peanut butter
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 tsp Sriracha sauce

 

Let's start with the star of the meal, the peanut sauce. So easy!  I just threw everything in a food processor (but started with only 2 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tsp Sriracha sauce) and blended it until kind of smooth.  I added another tablespoon of soy sauce and 2 teaspoons of Sriracha to taste because I like things salty and spicy (like me!), but you can add (or not) to your liking.   I cannot fully express how much I loved this sauce.  I can see myself making this to dip french fries in, or crudite. Or to serve over pork chops.  Or steak.  Ooh, I bet it'd be great on fried pickles!  And...well, you get the point.  It's GOOD.

Okay.  On to the chicken marinade. 

List of ingredients for the chicken marinade:

• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 shallot
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp Thai fish sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

First, I sliced the shallot (very thinly), minced the garlic and the ginger, and zested up a lime.  I picked this recipe specifically because it mirrors notes in the peanut sauce.

Then I whisked together all of the ingredients (except for the chicken) in a plastic container.  You could try to whisk in the chicken, but I don't imagine that would go very well.  Next, I pounded the chicken until about half an inch thick, cut it into strips and placed it in the marinade.  I let it sit about 2 hours.

Finally, I put together the salad, which I found at Recipezaar.

List of ingredients for the Thai salad:

• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 3 tsbp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp lime zest
• 1 jalepeno
• salt and pepper
• 1 hothouse cucumber
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped dry roasted peanuts

First, I minced up some more garlic, grated up some more lime zest, and seeded and chopped up the jalepeno.  Again, I picked this salad because the flavors in it overlapped with those of the peanut sauce and marinade.  Plus, I didn't have to get as many ingredients.  That made me very happy.

I whisked all this together with the lime juice, the rice wine vinegar, the oil, and the brown sugar, and threw in a little salt and pepper for good measure.

Next, I seeded my cucumber, then sliced it up thinly, and cut the bell pepper and carrot into matchsticks. Mark has been telling me lately that we should eat more colorful food (a.k.a. vegetables), and I was happy to be right on target with this salad.

I then tossed the veggies together with the dressing and let the whole thing sit for about an hour, to really let the flavors get acquainted, date for awhile, then make it official with a beautiful, but tasteful wedding.

Back to the chicken!  I took the chicken strips out of the marinade and skewered them.

I drizzled my grill pan with a little vegetable oil, heated it over medium high heat and cooked the chicken 2-3 minutes on each side, just until cooked through, with some light grill marks.  I bet these would be even better on a real grill; unfortunately, my "backyard" consists of 1 square foot of concrete, so it's grill pan for me.

I layered the spicy peanut sauce on the chicken, plated it with the salad, and topped it all off with some chopped dry roasted peanuts. I was really pleased with the way this turned out - light, yet satisfying, healthy, yet full of flavor. Mark really loved it, too. I suspect this salad will be making more appearances as summer really kicks in, and that sauce? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up making it on a monthly, if not weekly basis.

Comments

[Evan]

Looks delicious. I actually made a peanut sauce last night as well, but for tofu and veggies. I like that this one sounds spicy!

[Angela]

It's really spicy! Mostly because I kept adding Sriracha...I've never eaten peanut sauce with tofu and veggies, but I bet that would be good! Then again, peanut sauce is good on almost everything...

[stephanie]

I will have to make this with tofu (modifying the marinade, of course)! I bet that salad would be great tossed with some soba or rice noodles for lunch.

[Angela]

That is a GREAT idea, Stephanie! I do have salad leftovers...