Well, we’re less than a week away from our big move and we could not be more excited. The renovations have been moving along swimmingly and, knock on my hard head, all appears to be in order and on track…when does that ever happen? The relative calm and lack of perceived trouble is stressing me out.
Let the moving chaos begin!
While we sort through boxes, bins and furniture over the next couple of weeks, I’m sharing a delicious little number for all of you peanut butter fans out there.
This spicy peanut chicken has a place at my table any time of year!
I especially enjoy it combined with a sweet and sour coleslaw to draw out the best of the contrasting flavors and textures.
And who doesn’t love a dish that comes together so easily in the summer, when we’d all rather be outside doing something else with our time.
The delicious coconut-lime peanut marinade will do the work for you while you put your feet up, sit back, relax and sip on a refreshing Mojito smoothie.
Ah, summertime…. enjoy!
Spicy Peanut Chicken with Mango Slaw
For the Spicy Peanut Chicken
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
-
1/2 cup all natural peanut butter
-
1/2 cup coconut milk
-
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
-
Juice of one lime
-
2 Tbsp brown sugar
-
1 nub of ginger, grated or minced
-
2 heaping tsp (or to taste) chili garlic sauce
-
1 bunch cilantro leaves (about 1 cup), finely chopped
- 1/3 cup chopped peanuts for topping
- 1 small head (about 4 cups) chopped or shredded cabbage of choice (I used a mix of napa and red)
- Two generous handfuls (about 2 cups) kale leaves, preferably massaged ;-)
- 1 ripe mango, peeled and roughly cubed
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp celery seed, optional
- Sea salt & pepper to taste
- I like to prep the marinade for this chicken in the morning – get it done and have the chicken all set for dinnertime. That way, the afternoon is mine and there’s no last minute rushing about.
- If spicy is not your thing, simply omit the chili garlic sauce altogether – the peanut chicken will still be delicious! Heat is a matter of taste but I find 2 tsp of chili garlic sauce relatively mild on the heat scale so you can work from there.
- Although I have not tried it, I suspect this recipe would be at least as delicious with almond butter and, for that matter, with any nut or seed butter. So if peanut is off your list, feel free to experiment. On that note, sunflower seed butter is one of my favorite flavor discoveries of the past several years — delish!
- Any combination of cabbage, additional greens and fruit works for the coleslaw — this is merely a suggestion. I often wait to see what looks freshest at the market and make my decisions accordingly.
- In a mixing bowl, combine: peanut butter, coconut milk, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, ginger, chili garlic sauce, and half of the cilantro leaves, mixing well to combine. If the sauce is too thick, add one of the following options by quarter cup increments: water, coconut milk or chicken stock, until desired consistency is achieved (while you don’t want soupy, you should be able to whisk the sauce comfortably).
- Remove half of the spicy peanut sauce (should be a generous half cup or so) and set aside in a small covered container in fridge.
- To the remaining peanut sauce in bowl, add chicken pieces, mixing with your hands until all the pieces are well saturated.
- Cover the chicken mixture with wrap and store the bowl in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight, allowing the chicken to absorb the marinade flavors.
- Meanwhile, assemble mango slaw ingredients in a medium sized bowl and, separately, combine slaw dressing in small bowl or container with fitted lid. Whisk or vigorously shake the dressing before drizzling over slaw mixture, mixing to combine. Cover and store in fridge until ready to serve.
- When the chicken has marinated sufficiently and you are ready to serve, warm a skillet to medium-high heat adding some coconut or olive oil.
- Carefully place marinated chicken in the hot skillet allowing it to cook/sear on one side for a minute before flipping/tossing. Continue process until chicken is cooked through. This should not take very long as chicken pieces are quite small (roughly 4-6 minutes) depending on temperature of skillet. Remove chicken from heat.
- Meanwhile, heat the reserved spicy peanut sauce in a small pot on the stove or keep it cool as desired.
- Remove mango slaw from fridge and give it a final stir before plating.
- Plate spicy peanut chicken beside mango slaw, topping with an additional drizzle of reserved peanut sauce (warmed or cool), cilantro and a handful of chopped peanuts, as desired.
- Enjoy.
Already reading the name of your dish, I have no doubts I would love it. Moreover, it looks so summery and fresh and light! Fabulous mixture of Asian flavours. Good luck with moving! You must be so happy!
Absolutely delish! We love mango chicken slaw and have it often in the summertime. I hadn’t considered the peanut option and I love it!
Good luck with the move. I’d be all over helping you if I lived closer! So many of our moves were made easier with the help of friends and family. I’m very glad that your renos are going smoothly. I’ll be thinking of you often I’m the next few weeks in hopes that your transition goes well. XOXO
Eva http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com
haha, I like it hot too :) happy day Angie! xx
yup, tiring it will be but a good thing too! We’re excited. Thanks Monet.
I feel the exact same way… on Saturdays, I just want to hang out with the family and maybe share a late afternoon cocktail with my husband rather than tying up my time in isolation in the kitchen. This one comes together quickly so it’s ideal for that kind of scene. Thanks Clare — enjoy the weekend.
Thanks Patricia! It’s a yummy combo :)
Agreed! Peanut sauce works on just about anything and I think this recipe would be dynamite with cubed tempeh in place of chicken if you were looking for a vegan version.
I’m glad I’m not the only head case – LOL. Hope you enjoy this one Elizabeth and, as always, thank you for your support! Have a great weekend, xx
Protein rich indeed :) thank you so much for visiting! Pleasure to ‘meet’ you and welcome to Inspired Edibles.
Thank you so much for taking the time to drop by Dedy — it’s such a pleasure meeting new friends here at Inspired Edibles! I too love Thai style chicken satay although in Thailand satay is only pork based “Moo Satay” — we have created our own variations here in the West ;-). So pleased you like this recipe – cheers!
wow, tasty and refreshing with bursting flavour,
btw, this in one of my favourite menu in a thai restaurant that i used to visit…
great captured too!!!
Dedy@Dentist Chef
Easy to prepare and full of summer flavours. And yes, I like it hot…and pairing with sweet mango kale slaw is perfect.
Moving can be so tiring…but it’s all going to be worth it in the end! And goodness, this chicken looks heavenly! Wish I had a bowl or plate beside me now!
This is a beautiful recipe Kelly! (as are your photos, as usual). I too love the idea of prepping in the morning and making the most of the weekend afternoons (including happy hour!). For weeknights, I would put this together the night before and just take it out of the fridge when I get home from work to cook. Love that option! Can’t wait to try this; it sounds simply delicious. Like Sally, I’m drooling at the mere thought of it :) – what a gorgeous ingredient list!
YUM! What a great, healthy recipe!! …and all that protein?!! Sweet!!
The lack of perceived trouble is stressing you out — haha! I know exactly what you mean… it’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop ;-). Good luck with the move Kelly! You sure left us with an appetizing dish. Funny, I’ve never made peanut butter chicken but I can’t figure out why not… our whole family loves pb, this just seems so perfect! Mango and pb are a match made in heaven too. Great choice. I’m also going to check out that Mojito smoothie – what a good idea, sounds so refreshing… Yay, to summer indeed!
Looks AND sounds delish! My fave things combined! Good luck with your move!
oh, that’s so funny; I almost mentioned something about the price in the post. You’re right, a little crazy but I guess you need a lot of those little seeds to render a bucket of butter — probably a lot cheaper to make our own though last time I tried, I broke our blender – oops! (over-rotating the poor motor). — anyhow, once you taste it, you may find it possible to resist :).
me again… I saw sunflower butter at the store, held the bottle in my hand, tried to decide if I needed it. Saw the price, my heart missed a couple of beats. I put it back, gingerly. Now you make me go back there and damage my wallet… (sigh)
heeheeh, thanks Sally :) xx
There she goes, massaging the kale again… you are one naughty girl! :-)
pinning this recipe, it is making me drool…..