Donna's Satay Chicken and Thai Salad

I was eating a salad at work the other day and a friend poked his head in and said "You gotta get Donna to give you the recipe for the salad we had last night !" Of course ... the moment I saw her, I asked for the recipe ... and it wasn't but a couple of days later and I was making this culinary delight !

Now, I know you've already added Nancy's Osaka Chicken to your list of recipes to try but it needs to be a chicken sort of week ... you MUST try this one too !!

For the Satay Chicken ...

1 kilo of chicken tenderloins (I just used chicken breast - cut into biggish bites)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon oil
I tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 clove garlic

Mix and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Skewer and cook em up! (I didn't skewer mine b/c I was cooking in a hurry !)

Satay sauce

1 tsp veg oil
2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tsp chili sauce (I use sambal oelek) (and I used chili/garlic sauce)
1/4 tsp salt

Heat oil in small saucepan. Add ginger and garlic, saute for 30 seconds. Add broth, and remaining ingredients. Stir and reduce heat. Simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

This makes more than is needed for the skewers so you could even halve the recipe.

You can adjust the consistency of the sauce depending on how you like it by either adding more or less broth. Spice can also be adjusted by adding more chili.

For the salad ... (based on THIS recipe but modified a tiny bit)

Dressing:
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped green onions
1 tablespoon natural 100% peanut ~ peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon chili/garlic paste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons peanuts

To make the dressing ... throw everything but the peanuts in a food processor and whiz it up. Then add the peanuts and whiz some more. Done.

Salad:
2 cups spinach and rocket ... or your preferred salad greens
1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts
2 tablespoons thinly sliced red onion
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 a red capsicum (bell pepper), thinly sliced
a handful of snow peas, thinly sliced

Combine ... and drizzle with dressing.

Top with chicken !!

YUM !!

Peanut Butter / Choc Chip Popcorn

I got this recipe from my friend Kris.
She's an extraordinary cook !
I hope that one day I can convince her
to start posting recipes here !

I did this exactly as she told me, except that I had some choc chips in the pantry that begged me to throw them into the mix ... I just couldn't resist their pleas !



This is so simple.
Not to mention yummy.

All you need is:
30g butter
45g peanut butter ~ I use one that is 100% peanuts, no sugar
1 tablespoon PURE maple syrup
choc chips ~ optional, if you can resist them
popped popcorn

I pop my popcorn in a pan. A big pan. I cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil, add the popcorn, put the lid on, turn on the heat. I use a med/high heat. I have experimented a bit and found the high heat burned my pan. Med/high doesn't. If you have a popcorn popper, use that. Just get some popped popcorn. Kris says this covers 3 cups of popcorn. I did it the other day and it was probably more like 6 or even 9 cups and it was still deliciously plenty !!

Put the butter, peanut butter and maple syrup in a bowl and microwave ... not even a minute. You just want the butter to melt. Mix thoroughly. Pour on top of popped popcorn and give it a good mix with a spoon. YUM YUM YUM. Don't forget to add the choc chips ....

The kids love this. I love it too ... and I'm not a big fan of peanut butter. Jono says it tastes like caramel.

Nut Butters

So ... one thing I've been experimenting with is making my own nut butters.
My first attempt was with almonds. I made a yummy almond butter that we spread on crackers.

Then, last night ... after I came home with a new high power blender, I tried another. I had intended to make peanut butter but have discovered that it is better to use LOTS of nuts so added a bag of cashews as well and made peanut/cashew butter and it was quite nice. I toasted some bread, spread on the peanut/cashew butter and topped with sliced bananas.

Making the butters was pretty simple.
Just pour your nuts into a blender or food processor.
Turn it on.
It takes quite a while, and you will need to turn it on and off.
Scrape down the sides, give the blender a rest.
Eventually, the nuts will break down so much that the oils in them are released.
Blend/process to your desired consistency.
That's it.
Just don't kill your blender by working it too hard.
Let it rest.
My blender book says don't go longer than 30 seconds in one hit with nut butters.



Kid tested and approved !!

Peanut Butter Cups

This is for Bonnie.

1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate morsels

3 T butter

1 T oil

¼ cup smooth peanut butter

1 T powdered sugar

If you have those cool Teflon muffin cups, spray with a little non-stick spray. Otherwise, line a muffin pan with cupcake papers.

Melt chocolate, butter and oil. Melt peanut butter and sugar together.

Using a spoon or a pastry bag (I used a spoon but I imagine bags would be MUCH easier), divide half the chocolate mixture between the muffin cups (how many depends on how thick you want your finished candy. I used 6 and they were a little too hefty).

Next, divide the peanut butter evenly among the cups, making at least a half-hearted attempt to keep the peanut butter in the middle.

Cover each cup with the remaining chocolate mixture.

Put muffin pan in freezer for 30 minutes, or until it sets up.

Snarf.

Granola Peanut Butter Balls

Granola Peanut Butter Balls

www.foodnetwork.com

2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons peanut butter
2 cups granola
2 to 4 tablespoons milk, or as needed

In a large bowl, mix together the honey and peanut butter. Using a spatula, stir in the granola. Add enough milk to just moisten--you want it to stick together. Form into balls. Chill until ready to serve.

Yields: 16 balls

In the picture above, I drizzled a little melted chocolate on the tops. These are so yummy, and nutritious!