Shortcut Chicken Satay

This week I made Chicken Satay. The recipe I used was from a co-worker whose husband I know to be a wonderful cook. I'm calling this 'shortcut' chicken satay because the recipe for the sauce was so easy and I already had all four of the ingredients. (Whereas another co-worker once gave me a chicken satay recipe with a nine ingredient marinade plus an eight ingredient sauce.)

The chicken turned out perfect! The sauce had just enough flavor to be really yummy without being over powerful or sweet.



Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup     barbecue sauce
• 1/4 cup     creamy peanutbutter
• 1/4 cup     fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbsp      chopped cilantro
• 1  lb          boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 12             wooden skewers

Directions:

STEP 1:     Mix barbecue sauce, peanutbutter, lime juice, and cilantro in a resealable, 1 gallon sized zip lock bag.
 

STEP 2:     Cut chicken into strips. (Mine were approximately one inch wide.)

STEP 3:     Add chicken to bag, seal, and turn bag over several times to evenly coat the chicken with the sauce mixture. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour or as long as overnight. (I marinated mine for 24 hours.)

STEP 4:     Pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat.

STEP 5:     Remove chicken from bag and discard the marinade. Thread chicken into skewers.
 (***Note: It is always important to soak the skewers in water for an hour first. This will prevent them from burning on a hot grill). I found that the best way to put the chicken onto the skewer was to slide the skewer into the middle of the chicken strip for the entire length. This let the chicken lay flat on the grill, whereas the first skewer I made I had skewered the chicken at several points making an 'S' shape.

STEP 6:     Grill chicken on skewers for 4 -5 minutes each side or until chicken is cooked through. I cooked mine on a panini grill and shut the lid. Cooking the chicken with the lid shut took only 4-5 total and eliminated the need to flip the skewers.

You can bet I'll be making this recipe again. I think this chicken would be fantastic as an appetizer for a group or while watching a football game. The size and the skewers make it a perfect finger food. I was a little worried I'd want more sauce, this the flavor was perfect and most of the sauce cooked with the chicken instead of burning off. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much I did.

On a side note I made Chicken Pierre again a few weeks ago and enjoyed it just as much as the first time. I didn't take my own advice and add more tomatoes which I regret. Next time I'll be doubling the tomatoes so there aren't any fights over who gets them.