Skewers of grilled meat are a staple at Thailand night markets as the aromatic smoke from satay stands lure in hungry customers. These are also perfect to serve at soirees or as part of a dinner menu. The oven broiler can stand in for the grill when the weather outside is not so tropical.
1 cup (250 mL) coconut milk
4 Tbsp (60 mL) coconut palm sugar or honey, divided
2 Tbsp (30 mL) fish sauce
1 Tbsp (15 mL) reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp (10 mL) grated or finely minced ginger
2 tsp (10 mL) ground coriander
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground turmeric
1 lb (450 g) skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 in (1.25 cm) cubes
10 wood skewers
1/2 cup (125 mL) rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 dried Thai bird chilies, crushed, or 1/4 tsp (1 mL) red chili flakes
Stir together coconut milk, 2 Tbsp (30 mL) palm sugar or honey, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, coriander, and turmeric in large container. Add chicken pieces, toss to coat, cover, and let marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour or more.
Soak skewers in cold water for 30 minutes to prevent them from burning under the broiler.
Preheat oven broiler. Remove chicken from marinade and thread onto skewers. Place chicken skewers on lightly greased baking sheet and broil for 3 minutes. Turn skewers and broil for additional 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
To make dipping sauce, place rice vinegar, remaining sugar or honey, garlic, and chili pepper in small saucepan. Bring to simmer and heat for 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance.
Serves 4.
Each serving contains: 234 calories; 23 g protein; 10 g total fat (6 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 11 g total carbohydrates (9 g sugars, 0 g fibre); 540 mg sodium
source: "Stir-Up Delicious Thai Food", alive #364, February 2013
Yogurt completely transforms the texture of these chicken thighs, making them tender and flavourful with bright notes of lemon and cilantro. Ideal for a day trip, these can be marinated in the morning and cooked in the evening, but they also work well when cooked in advance and packed for a picnic to be eaten cold. Marinade mentions Marinate chicken thighs for anywhere between 4 and 24 hours. Discard excess marinade that has been in contact with raw chicken. It should not be consumed uncooked.
Citrusy and slightly sour sumac and a touch of maple syrup enliven pickled onions in a perfect complement to this salad. Kale and Napa cabbage stand up for hours to the sweet and puckery dressing, and hearty farro will keep you going while on the road. This salad is sure to be a favourite for picnics, backyard potlucks, or road trip lunch stops. Dressing for dinner This salad stands up well, even while dressed, for up to 4 hours. (Truth be told, I’ve often happily eaten it the next day.) In fact, time helps kale to soften up and become even more delicious. If you’re travelling for a longer period, make the pickled onion dressing as described above: let it stand for about 20 minutes, and then add all the oil and pack it into a separate container so you can finish the salad when you arrive at your destination. The pickled onions are also great with steaks or chicken.
These wraps are perfect for an overnight journey when you want to have something quick and satisfying the next day. Sweet smoked paprika adds just a hint of smoky flavour to sweet potatoes, which join with spinach and red pepper to dress up eggs in a pleasing way. Make these wraps anytime and stick them in the freezer for your next excursion. Pack them frozen and they’ll have time to thaw on the journey, or put them in the fridge the night before you travel so you have something convenient and tasty to eat before you set off. Leave the ketchup bottle behind, and serve them with your own smoky red pepper sauce. Freeze with ease While foil is convenient for freezing and reheating these wraps, to cut down on waste, freeze wraps in a single freezer-proof container. Insert a small piece of parchment between each wrap so they don’t stick together. This will allow you to remove individual wraps easily when you need them.
While sablefish’s texture and fat content stand up admirably to the heat of the grill, this firm fish is also delicious poached. For this recipe, sablefish’s luxurious taste is combined with a light fragrant broth of lemongrass and ginger punctuated with the heat of Thai chili. Sustainability status Sablefish, also known as butterfish or black cod, is a rich and satisfying fish, plentiful in omega-3s and sourced sustainably from the Pacific Northwest. Skin and bones Sablefish has large pin bones. Ideally, your fishmonger will remove them, but if not, before you begin, locate them along the fish’s centreline and, using a pair of needle nose pliers, grasp them firmly to remove. You can leave the skin on for this recipe, which may help the fish hold together a little better while cooking, but it can be tricky to peel the skin away from the cooked fish and discard before plating. I opted to remove the skin first and simply keep a close eye on the cooking time, being careful to remove the fish from the poaching liquid before it flakes apart.