A couple summers ago, my husband and I had visited the beautiful island of Hawaii. It was one of our first big vacations somewhere fun and tropical. We spent 10 days in Oahu, and had the most amazing time with our friends. We went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, enjoyed delicious dishes at Germaine’s Luau, had the best garlic shrimp scampi at Giovanni’s Shrimp truck, drank lava flows all night long, and we even had visited the Dole Plantation. Pineapples seem to trigger all the delightful memories of Hawaii.
Once I saw this dish in my recent Cooking Light magazine, it reminded me of the tropical summer getaway in Hawaii. Fresh pineapples are a sweet fruit to enjoy all by itself, but when paired with savory dishes – it complements them to a tee. This is a fantastic summer Asian-inspired dish and similar to the Chicken Satay dish from Thai restaurants. It’s pretty straightforward to put together for a weeknight dinner. You can prepare the chicken with or without the skewer if it’s easier for you, too.
Sweet and savory, and the sweet breeze of Hawaii.
Pineapple Chicken Satay
Adapted from Cooking Light - June 2011
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
¼ cup lower-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup sweet chili sauce
¼ cup crunchy peanut butter
2 teaspoons sesame oil
½ teaspoon curry powder
1 pound chicken breasts, cut lengthwise into 8 pieces
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
Cooking spray
1 ½ cups diced pineapple
⅓ cup red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
⅛ ground cayenne pepper
Preparation:
In a small bowl whisk the soy sauce, sweet chili sauce and peanut butter together. Warm the sauce in microwave for 30 seconds if needed to combine the sauce. Set aside.
In a large bowl combine the sesame oil, curry powder and chicken tenders in a bowl. Toss to evenly coat. Thread chicken onto 6-inch skewers.
Heat a large grill pan with cooking spray. Add the garlic and let it sauté for 1 minute, then add the chicken until no longer pink.
In a small bowl, combine the diced pineapple, sliced red onion, chopped cilantro, and cayenne pepper. Toss to combine.
Serve the chicken with soy sauce-peanut mixture and ⅓ cup of the pineapple mixture over a bed of steamed rice.
Nutritional Factor: Cal: 330; Fat: 119g; Carb 22.7g; Fiber: 2.2g; Protein: 31.2g;
Servings: 4 servings (serving size 2 skewers, and ⅓ cup pineapple mixture)
Review: We loved everything about this dish. The sweet and hot combo is unbelievable - chicken dipped in a spicy peanut sauce and you instantly get cooled down by the pineapple salad. It seems that the pineapple has a way of absorbing the heat and then balancing it with the spicy peanut sauce to produce a superb combination of flavors. Nom-alicious!
