I'm a huge fan of Thai food, well really Asian food in general. It is so flavorful, but usually at restaurants the portions are huge and who knows how much oil and/or sodium they cook with. So I love finding recipes I can make at home and control what goes in it. I had found the chicken recipe first about a year ago on Pinterest, and then found the noodle dish while looking for a complementary side dish.
I think people either love cilantro, or they hate it. I'm definitely on the love side. Its a strong herb, but it adds so much flavor to recipes. I've tried to grow it a few times, but have had no luck. I tried it from seed, waited 6 weeks, and never got anything more than about an inch long. I bought small plants and it grew for a couple weeks, then died. And it doesn't like a lot of heat. And my backyard is a magnet for the sun and blinding heat. So its not the best combination.
I don't make this dish that often, because the peanut sauce is a little heavier than I normally cook. But I ate a very light lunch, so I was good to go.
Here are the recipe versions
And here is my version
So much flavor! There's a lot of strong ingredients in the marinade, but they work well together and grilling the chicken just enhances the depth. I've used a variety of veggies in the noodle dish, just depending on what I have in the fridge. Tonight it was broccoli, red peppers, and mushrooms. The recipe calls for frozen veggies, but I've never tried it with them. This time the peanut sauce really wasn't spicy, but probably because I didn't put enough chili garlic sauce. The sauce is simple and yet really delicious.
Both recipes call for sesame oil. But I learned a long time ago that less is definitely more with that oil, and use as little as possible. With the marinade I do half sesame oil and half olive oil; I don't coat the pasta in any oil at all, and I use olive oil for the veggies.
I really like this dish, and every time I make it I say I'm going to figure out how to reduce the calories. Maybe a little less oil, less peanut butter or maybe even the fake peanut butter powder. I've tasted it before and its not bad. And since I add peanuts anyway, it will still have the flavor.
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Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken (Found on Artsy-Foodie)
Thai Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce (Found on Food.com)
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