Quick and easy weeknight dinners are a must for our family during the school year, and since we’ve been having an Indian Summer this past week, I decided to uncover the grill and throw some Thai Chicken Skewers on. My kids love anything on skewers – they’re fun to eat and quick to cook. I’ve been trying to plan our dinners ahead of time for the week ahead to make it easier to fit our busy schedule. There are some days when I feed the kids at 4PM, and other days, when I serve dinner after an hour of driving my kids around, so planning meals ahead of time helps a ton.
This week, a group of bloggers is celebrating Dorothy Hamilton, one of the 50 Women Game Changers in Food. According to Gourmet Live, Dorothy Hamilton is an “educator extraordinare.” She founded Manhattan’s International Culinary Center, formerly known as the French Culinary Institute. Elected Chairwoman of the American Institute of Wine and Food in 1994, Dorothy Hamilton was appointed Chairman emerita for life.
In an article entitled A Bon Vivant’s Diet, Dorothy Hamilton talks about the struggles of trying to lose weight while eating out at restaurants, giving parties and cooking for her family. Although she flirted with fad diets like the Scarsdale and Atkins diet, she eventually altered the way she ate without giving up her love for food and her glass of wine at the end of the day, and squeezed in workouts on most days. For breakfast, she would have a piece of fruit, then a salad or a three-egg omelette. Â She called her diet “very French…I like fresh foods, and I never snack.” Another trick she picked up from Julia Child was to drink a diet cocktail made with club soda, bitters and a squeeze of lime. Â Also, when traveling for work, she brings a few containers of Greek yogurt in an insulated bag. I love her emergency coping mechanism…”In tough moments, I sit on my hands.”
Despite Dorothy Hamilton’s busy business dinner schedule, she cooks dinner for her family often. One of the recipes she makes for her family is Thai Chicken with Garlic and Lime, a recipe given to her by Robert Surles, a.k.a. Chef Bobo, a French Culinary Institute alumni that works at her daughter’s school. I’ve adapted this recipe into these Thai Chicken Skewers, adding some minced ginger and sambal oelek chili sauce.
The marinade for this chicken can also be used for a quick stir-fry chicken and pepper dish. I had some leftover bits and pieces of marinated chicken that I simply cut into smaller pieces and sprinkled on some cornstarch to help keep the chicken moist and tender. With a little chicken broth and soy sauce added, this made a nice dish for the next night.
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| Stir-Fry Thai Chicken with Peppers |
Thai Chicken Skewers
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Thai Chicken Skewers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs cut into 1/2" wide strips
- fresh ground pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 2 1/2 tablepoons cilantro minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek chili sauce
- lime wedges for serving, optional
Instructions
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Season chicken with pepper.
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In a bowl, mix the garlic with 2 tablespoons of the cilantro, the fish sauce, sugar and sambal oelek chili sauce. Mix well with chicken strips, making sure chicken is evenly coated. Let stand at least an hour and up to overnight.
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Soak bamboo skewers in water for one hour.
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Skewer chicken strips.
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Grill until cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side.
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Serve with lime wedges, if desired.
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We want to hold on to summer as long as possible and we can with this recipe Jeanette.
wow..colorful n hearty..
Tasty Appetite
This is my kind of recipe. I'm bookmarking!
I can't get enough of Thai flavors lately. Unfortunately, my husband isn't a fan of Thai, but I think he would actually like these!
Great idea and anything that helps with weight control goes on my list. Can you imagine the temptations she faces every day?
The chicken skewers look great!
oh does this look good Jeannette! I've got your blog on my daily reader! making the barley pilaf from here a few days ago, tonight! 🙂
Hi Jeanette, delicious looking skewers! In response to your request, I did try linking up a WG recipe numerous times but unfortunately, it is not working. If you have other transmission suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. Cheers, k.
These chicken skewers were a hit with my kids – I'll be making them again soon.
These look so good – wish I had a barbeque and a back patio to celebrate these on.
What a great marinade! Yum!
These look delicious, chicken kabobs are my favorite dinner 🙂
The chicken skewers look really delicious, got me craving for it 🙂 nice blog. Following you on my reader.
These look wonderful! My kids would love these
This marinade sounds delicious. We should eat more chicken in our house since we're always looking for sources of lean protein. This would do the trick nicely.
On weeknights, quick and easy is definitely super desirable. I love the Thai flavors in that marinade! I bet it would make for an awesome tofu stir fry as well!
Gorgeous Skewers! I'd have to make 30 of them–they'd go so fast.
Oh Jeanette, these look great…and they make me hungry right now! Off to forage something to eat…