I have been meaning to try chicken satay for a very long time. Yesterday, my dear friend Rasha told me that she made it a few days ago and it was definitely a dish worth trying.I had all the ingredients except for the chunky peanut butter (My daughter who is in love with peanut butter likes the smooth variety). So  a quick trip to the store and I was ready to take on the chicken satay.

My friend had given me her recipe for the chicken satay but sadly my son decided to draw on it so I had to look up another recipe. I found Rachel Ray’s chicken satay with stir-fry vegetable and it had over 200 positive reviews so I decided to give it a go. I made a number of changes to the recipe:

1. I marinated the chicken to give it more flavor.
2. I cut the chicken into strips and put it on skewers instead of cooking it with the vegetables.
3. I added cream to the satay sauce and doubled the orange juice
4. I added the satay sauce to the vegetables and cooked them together instead of just pouring them over the cooked veges
5. I added salt and oil to the rice because a number of reviewers pointed out that it was bland
6. I added corn to the vegetables

The verdict?

When I asked my daughter later in the evening what does she want to eat tomorrow she said:

Today’s recipe..it was yummy

 

Ingredients

3  cups water

1 oranges, zested

1 and 1/2 cups basmatti rice, rinsed

4 tablespoons olive oil divided

1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 chicken breast sliced into strips

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 medium yellow-skinned onion, sliced

1 red bell pepper, seeded, quartered and sliced

1  big carrot cut into match sticks

Scallions, cut on an angle into 2 inch pieces

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup snow peas

Satay sauce: Rachel Ray recipe

3 rounded tablespoonfuls chunky peanut butter

1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons honey

1-inch ginger root, peeled and minced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 orange, juiced

1 teaspoon dried parsley

2 tablespoons cooking cream

Dipping sauce

2 tablespoons chunky peanut putter

1 table-spoon honey

juice of 1 lemon

chopped parsley

2 teaspoons soya sauce

dash of powdered ginger

Garnish:

2 to 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

2 to 3 tablespoons chopped green onions

Directions

In a bowl whisk together the satay sauce ingredients until they are combined.

Pour half to 2/3 the sauce over the chickens and marinate it for at least 30 minutes.

While the  chicken is in the marinade, soak your skewers in water so that they don’t burn.

Place the chicken strips on the skewers and arrange them in a pan that you have sprayed with oil

Wash your orange, take the peel off trying to get the colored part only.

Juice the orange and then heat water with orange peel  to boiling.

Add rice, salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil then return to boil, stir. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook rice until tender, 18 minutes. Fluff with fork.