Paleo Chicken Satay with “Peanut” Sauce

As I sit at my kitchen table eating Paleo Chicken Satay and apples for lunch, I realize that it has been 3 weeks since I went completely gluten-free. It has been 1 week since I went completely sugar free, meaning I don’t even eat honey or stevia!  How is it you going?  Well, I have lost 7 lbs, the food is excellent and I don’t crave sugar or wheat products.  Not that I don’t miss them from time to time but I honestly don’t crave them at all right now. Chocolate though, ohhh how I would give my right and left arm for a good chunk of dark chocolate.  Sorry, I digress!

As for the reasons I gave up gluten; fatigue, mood swings, headaches, not sleeping well at night and my chronic itching ears, etc. etc…..well!  Let’s just say I am told it will take anywhere between 5 weeks to a year to see improvement on all fronts.

The good news, as long as I keep a smile on my face and my finger out of my ears I can at least look good while struggling with my inner turmoil!  Nothing worse in my book than gaining unwelcome weight and dealing with inner turmoil.

But honestly, I am so impressed with the food I can still eat and how many “new foods” there are for the foods i can’t eat anymore!  Every morning for breakfast and every night for dinner I hear, “Mom, I can eat this way forever.  It’s the best food.”  Some might say, well, you are a chef of course it’s going to be good.  While that may be true in my old world of food, this world is very different.  Some ingredients I have never worked with or combined, so this is a new journey for me too.

If you’re thinking about going gluten-free, whether you are forced to or not,  I suggest getting a good Paleo cookbook and trying it for yourself.  Don’t look at the food as substitutes for the old food.  Look at it as completely new food with new flavors.  That way you won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t taste exactly like your favorite pancakes, peanut sauce or ice cream.  But rather, you’ll be excited for new things!

Here is the recipe for the chicken satay I just finished eating for lunch.  It is out of “The Food Lovers Make It Paleo“ cookbook.  Enjoy!

Chicken Satay and “Peanut” Satay Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup Coconut Milk
3 cloves Garlic, grated
1 1/2 tsp Ginger Root, grated
1 Tbsp Curry Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 1/2 lb Chicken Tenders
1 cup “Peanut” Satay Sauce (recipe below)

Combine coconut milk, garlic, ginger, curry powder and salt in a small mixing bowl.
Mix until evenly combined.
Marinate chicken with mixture for 2–4 hours.
Soak wooden skewers for a minimum of 1 hour, prior to grilling.
Preheat grill to high heat.
Skewer chicken tenders with the pre-soaked wooden skewers.
Grill over medium-high heat for 8–12 minutes, turning as necessary to cook evenly.

Serve with “peanut” satay sauce.

Ingredients

1 cup Sunbutter (recipe below)
1 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
1/2 Lime, juice
1/4 cup Raw Coconut Aminos
1/4 cup Water, hot
3 cloves Garlic, minced

Make sunbutter according to recipe below.
Combine sunbutter with all remaining ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor.
Blend until a creamy, smooth consistency.

Sunbutter

Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients

2 cups roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
3 tbsp macadamia nut oil
1 tsp pure maple syrup

Pour two cups of roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds into a food processor, and blend until you have a fine sunflower meal.
Add in oil one tablespoon at a time, blending each tablespoon into the sunflower meal until you have a peanut butter like texture
Add in the maple syrup
Continue to blend until you have the consistency that you prefer.