Satay with Peanut-Ginger Ramen

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

Virginia Woolf

 I'm still basking in the joy that is meal planning. I sure know how to make the mundane sound glamorous, no? There haven't been any duds lately, so my husband is swooning. I don't think he ever thought he'd see the day when he'd be greeted by a home cooked meal every night.

My burgeoning recipe rotation makes me so happy! Also, I've learned that Pinterest likes to bring me down a notch every now and then by enticing me with deliciously photographed dishes that scream waaa waaaaaa from our plates.

Here's my latest success, adapted from the September 2012 issue of Everyday Food magazine:

Chicken or Beef Satay with Peanut-Ginger Ramen

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
• 2 tablespoons lime juice, divided
• 1 3/4 teaspoons sugar, divided
• 2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger, divided
• 1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain (or thinly sliced chicken breast)
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• Vegetable oil, for grill
• 2 packages (3 ounces each) ramen, cooked according to package instructions (seasoning packet discarded)

Directions

1. Soak 12 wooden skewers in water, 15 minutes. In a shallow dish, whisk together 1 tablespoon each soy sauce and lime juice and 1 teaspoon each sugar and ginger. Add beef or chicken, toss, and let sit 10 minutes.
   
2. Meanwhile, in a blender, puree remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice, 3/4 teaspoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon ginger with peanut butter and 1/3 cup water. Season with remaining 1-2 Tbsp soy sauce.
   
3. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. Thread meat onto skewers. Clean and lightly oil hot grill. Grill until charred and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Toss ramen with peanut-ginger sauce. Serve with beef/chicken.

Note: I'm not a big beef person, so I'll be replicating this recipe with chicken in the future. Still, it was delicious! My local meat guy didn't have flank steak, so I substituted sirloin, sliced it thin, and served it the same way. To save time, I divided the meat among three metal skewers and each of us got our own. I served it with Trader Joe's chili-garlic edamame. Deeelish!

 

Satay with Peanut-Ginger Ramen

Friday, November 9, 2012

It's the Slaw

One of my favorite dishes in the whole wide world is Oriental Chicken Salad. You know, the one made with cabbage slaw and ramen noodles. I could eat it every day.

Unfortunately, the copious amounts of oil and salt-saturated dressing do NOT love me back. It is so easy to fall into the "it's a salad...it must be healthy" trap. Determined to enjoy this salad, I decided to tweak it. I'll probably be tweaking it forever, but I think I have stumbled upon a pretty good formula. Enjoy!

Sarah's A Little Less Junk in the Trunk Healthier Oriental Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 bags of prepackaged cabbage slaw mix
• 4 medium chicken breasts (grilled and cubed) or 1 whole rotisserie chicken (remove meat from bone and shred/cube)
• 1 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 slivered almonds

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup oil (grapeseed, avocado, canola, etc.)
• 5 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 4 tbsp sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place chicken, slaw, green onions, sunflower seeds, and almonds in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together oils, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper until well combined and smooth.
3. Immediately pour dressing over slaw mix and stir until well combined.

 

 

 

 
How easy was that? A couple suggestions...I don't really measure the almonds and sunflower seeds. I like a lot of crunch in my salad, so sometimes I dump and sometimes I measure. Whatever floats your boat. Also, if you decide that you just have to have the ramen noodles, crumble them over the top of individual servings. Otherwise they will get soggy and your leftovers will not have that crunch you crave.

If you try it, let me know what you think! If you tweak it, tell me what you did and how it turned out!

It's the Slaw

Wednesday, September 12, 2012