Grapefruit Chicken Satay Salad

I'll start with saying that I did something that my parents would absolutely cringe if they knew I did it. I grew up thinking chicken should only be bought at a price of $1.99 a pound, and if it was anything below that price, it would be a green light to stock up and fill the freezer. Since I've been on my own, I've grown to be less of a freezer stuffer and more of a fresh meat buyer (however, you will almost always find some sort of meat in the freezer - nice to have handy). I still, however, hesitate to purchase any chicken over the $2.99 threshold. Living in a city, though, requires a bit of a different mentality and lifestyle. It's not feasible to run around to 3 grocery stores just because each store offers a different sale. When you're on foot - you go to what's near you, period. Thus, in preparation for last night's meal, I needed to get some fresh chicken, and the closest store on the way home from the gym happens to be "Real Food Company" filled with a bunch of organic/natural and well, not cheap, items. $6.99 was the price of chicken - free range. And really, I'm on board with the notion that we should be eating free-range and organic meats...there's a reason there are 10 year olds have far surpassed my bra size - but I can't say it's in my current budget to always pay premium. However, after the previous night's incredible buffalo dinner, I was willing to suck it up. Long story short, Mom and Dad - I paid $7.17 for two chicken breasts. Sorry.

Onto the meal - A recipe I had found a few days earlier and put into my "must make" file. With grapefruits sitting in our refrigerator and every other ingredient besides the chicken at the place, I thought it would be a great, light but satisfying meal following and awesome spinning class.

Grapefruit Chicken Satay Salad:

www.eatingwell.com/recipes/grapefruit_chicken_satay_salad.html

Scaled to Serve 2:

Ingredients:

1 large grapefruit

2 chicken breasts (about 1 lb total), cut into strips

1 tsp. dry mustard (we had only regular mustard so I ended up making a spice "paste")

1 tsp. garlic powder (only had fresh so I minced one up)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. salt

3-4 Tbsp. peanut butter

1.5 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. sugar (used agave nectar)

1/4 tsp. hot sauce

6 cups lettuce (mixture of spinach, red leaf)

3-4 radishes, sliced

Directions:

1. Remove peel (and white stuff) from grapefruit and carefully remove the segments. Set aside. Squeeze the remaining juice from the grapefruit membrance into a bowl.

2. Position rack in upper third of the oven and pre-heat broiler on high. Line baking sheet with foil.

3. Combine spices (mustard through salt) and toss with the chicken strips until well coated. Place on baking sheet.

4. Broil the chicken until cooked through (about 5 minutes).

5. Meanwhile, whisk peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, and hot sauce, into the reserved grapefruit juice until smooth.

6. Fill plate with lettuce, top with grapefruit segments, radishes and chicken. Drizzle sauce over salad. (Recipes says to mix sauce with chicken and lettuce, then top with grapefruit and radishes, I guess you could do that too).

I wasn't sure how this would turn out given I had never broiled chicken before - and Derek poo pooed the idea ("sauteeing tastes infinately better"). I wanted to give it a try and was very pleased with the results. I'm not sure if it could be attributed to the good expensive chicken I bought or the method of cooking, but the strips were super tender. We had three strips leftover so that will be a perfect addition to a lunch salad for me.

We both thought this was a great after-gym meal since it was packed with protein with chicken and peanut butter. We served it with some fresh bread from the store and ended the night off with frozen yogurt from our nearby self-serve store that just opened up.

Derek called this a keeper, and while it's not braised buffalo short-ribs with X,Y and Z....it's a good, healthy, satisfying option - a "Katie" meal, if you will.

Cheers.

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