Peanut Ginger Chicken

This is one of my family's favorite meals, however, I will be honest and say that I haven't made it since last summer. I've been extremely anti-chicken this pregnancy, but I'm posting this recipe for 2 reasons...

1. Every time I make it and have people over, they love love love it.
2. Since its getting warmer, I figured a nice "fresh" recipe might do us all a favor of inviting Spring, warm air, and BBQs back into our lives.

So here it goes...

12 skinless chicken thighs (works fine with breasts, too)
1/2 c. hot water
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/4 c. chili sauce
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 T. veggie oil
2 T. vinegar
4 cloves minced garlic
2 t. grated ginger root
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

Salsa:
1 c. chopped fresh fruit (peaches, pears, pineapple, really anything)
1 c. chopped seeded cucumber
2 T. sliced green onion
2 T. chopped cilantro
1 T. sugar
1 T. veggie oil
1 T. vinegar

For chicken and marinade: Slowly pour hot water into peanut butter and stir. Add the rest of the ingredients and marinate chicken in a bag or non-metal bowl for 12-24 hours (this is key, the longer, the more tender the chicken).

For salsa: Combine all ingredients and cover and chill for 1-2 hours.


Cooking options... We grill ours on the BBQ, however if you don't have one or its not warm enough for a BBQ, make these into chicken satay with wooden skewers and broil them for a 7-10 minutes.

Whether we make these into just chicken, satay, or some form of kabobs, we serve this with some sort of rice and the salsa on top. Since fruit for this dish isn't exactly in season quite yet, feel free to use canned fruit, or just buy pre-made mango/pineapple salsa from the deli to save a step or defray grocery costs.

Hope you like it as much as my family does! You might also want to set aside a little of the marinade to glaze over the top of the finished chicken.