Time to play...What the heck should I make for dinner?

How often does this happen to you?

You're running around, getting stuff done, and all of a sudden you realize...it's 5 pm and you have no clue what you're having for dinner?

It happens practically every night at my house. Every once in a while I get on a super organized kick and try to plan out my meals for a week.

And then the next week, I'm back to panic mode at 5 pm.

With that in mind, I have a great dinner option for those of you who need quick, easy, and versatile!

Chicken Saté with Peanut Sauce 

and Cucumber-Radish Salad

First up...the chicken!

Chicken Saté

Ingredients:

Pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil (about 1/4 cup)

Lemon Juice (fresh from one lemon)

One clove garlic minced (if you like garlic)

salt/pepper to taste

Throw everything into a ziploc bag and shake it up. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes while you do other stuff (like read a romance novel...not that I've ever done that while cooking dinner)

When you're ready, throw the chicken on the grill.

Done!

While the chicken is cooking, I make the peanut sauce.

Note: If you want to make this fancy, you can cut up the chicken into cubes, and then thread them on a skewer. But because I'm lazy, I skip that part and usually use chicken tenderloins which are already small. Coz...I'm lazy!**

**NOTES FROM PENNY, THE LAZY COOK

**Also, make sure you don't lose track of time while reading your romance novel or you might burn the chicken...not that *I've* ever done that (*shifty eyes*)

**Recipe is modified from one I found in In Style magazine, I think? I clipped it out years ago.

For Peanut Sauce...

Peanut Sauce

Grab a medium-sized pot. Scoop in...

1/2 cup peanut butter (I use low-sodium, low-sugar Jif)

1/2 T chili powder

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 and 1/4 c. canned coconut milk (I use lite)

1/4 c. soy sauce (I use low sodium)

Juice from 1/2 lime

(Chop up the other half lime for a Corona or to fancy up your plate later)

Mix everything together over med-high heat until it bubbles and sauce gets thick, stirring often.**

**This sauce is so good, you'll want to marry it. I sometimes make a pot of spaghetti noodles and toss some of the sauce with it to make peanut noodles for my vegetarian daughter. You could also jazz up the noodles with other veggies, scallions, etc.

**Or just eat the sauce with a spoon while reading a romance novel.

Radish-Cucumber Salad

One bunch radishes, sliced thin

One cucumber, sliced thin and chopped into quarters, or however you like them

2-3 scallions chopped up

handful of peanuts

pinch of sugar

couple of Tablespoons of white rice vinegar

salt/pepper to taste

Throw cukes, radishes, scallions into a bowl. Toss gently. Drizzle vinegar and pinch of sugar on top. Toss some more. Season with salt/pepper. Then sprinkle some peanuts on top.

**This recipe is modified from a Martha Stewart version

**I also make a bag of Trader Joe brown rice in the microwave. Takes 3 minutes. Done!

Order of dinner preparation:

1. Put chicken in ziploc to marinate.

2. Make cuke-radish salad. Throw all of the peanut sauce ingredients into a pot on the stove.

3. Toss chicken on the grill.

4. Heat up/stir peanut sauce while chicken grills.

5. Remove chicken from grill. Arrange artfully on a platter with limes and flowers and stuff like that. Or...just eat it. Serve with brown rice and peanut sauce and radish salad.

Last night I served this dinner, and I also had a bowl of chopped honeydew melon. Nice and sweet for dessert!

This is fast, easy, and you can save some peanut sauce for other recipes.

Thanks for playing another round of "What The Heck Should I Make For Dinner?"

Have a great week!

Penny