Thai Chicken Tenderloin Satay with Peanut and Red Onion Dipping Sauce

Thai Chicken Tenderloin Satay

It was time for having my neighbor and her kids over for dinner - The Husbands were on extended business trips. The dinner party was set for an uneventful Tuesday night.

When planning a menu, I try to come up with ideas that everyone will like. With the ages of our dinner guests ranging from 7 to 42, I needed a menu that would appeal to all. I'd rather make the majority of dishes enjoyable to everyone. Therefore, I don't revert to serving pizza and hotdogs for the kids while the adults have leg of lamb with mint jelly.

One of my culinary tips is to put food on a stick. Kids and adults alike always ohh and ahh when even the simplest foods appear at the table on a skewer.

With that in mind, I settled on the following menu:

Thai Chicken Tenderloin Satay
Peanut & Red Onion Dipping Sauce
Jasmine Rice
Potstickers - I bought the frozen ones
Steamed Edamame
Roasted Asparagus
Mini Watermelon and Pineapple Kebabs
Watermelon Lemonade - add a little vodka for the over 21 crowd
S'mores

The only items that took some planning were the Satay and Peanut Dipping Sauce. The chicken spent the day lounging in the marinade in the refrigerator, and I made the sauce before the kids even woke up. Not that this is a difficult task. I usually don't see them until about 11 o'clock in the morning.

Off to the pool for a few hours and then home to get dinner on the table. No Thank You Boy and My Middle One skewered the chicken - quite a slippery project. I like using the tenderloins because they are more tender (duh) and they come in the perfect size for skewering. My Oldest prepared the potstickers. She needs to pay more attention when she cooks and less to texting her friends - and clean up the mess. I was grateful for their help, kind of, and dinner was a success.

As predicted, the Thai Chicken Tenderloin Satay were a hit. Also was the Peanut and Red Onion Dipping Sauce. I'll be making this again. The highlight of the night was the S'mores. Between the 7 kids, they ate their way through 2 boxes of graham crackers, an extra large bag of marshmallows, and 32 mini chocolate bars.

The night ended with a bunch of kids on a sugar high and a couple relaxed moms.

Thai Chicken Tenderloin Satay

3 lbs. of chicken tenderloins -

I made extra for Chicken Caesar Salads the next night

1/8 cup peanut oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
juice and zest of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cumin
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
a few shakes of hot sauce

12-inch wooden skewers

** I don't soak them because they always seem to burn anyway

Place chicken in a large resealable bag. Whisk the remaining marinade ingredients together and pour over chicken. Let marinate in refrigerator for 2 and up to 24 hours.

Heat a grill to hot. Remove chicken from marinade and skewer one piece on each skewer. Grill for about 3 minutes per side or until cooked through. Serve with Peanut and Red Onion Dipping Sauce.

Peanut and Red Onion Dipping Sauce

adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe

2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3/4 cup small diced red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoon white wine
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup ketchup
a squeeze of lime juice
a few shakes of hot sauce

In a small saucepan, heat oils and cook red onion, garlic, and ginger over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Whisk in red wine vinegar, white wine, soy sauce, brown sugar, peanut butter, ketchup, lime juice, and hot sauce. Cook for another minute or two. Cool.

Can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a month.