Lemongrass Grilled Chicken with Bok Choy Cilantro Slaw
With temps still well in the 80’s here in Southern California it isn’t feeling much like Fall. It is hard to embrace the pumpkin spiced everything, and I haven’t even touched a cozy sweater since last March. I have a few pumpkins outside my door along with my my succulents but I’m sure they’re wondering what they’re doing here and wishing they were on a cooler doorstep surrounded by red mums and cornstalks.
I’ve always been a warm weather lover so I’m ok with the extended Summer. We moved here to escape the snow and to be able to wear flip flops all year round. Miles was sick of covering his face with Vaseline every time wanted to go surfing from the months of October to September. So you won’t hear me complaining about the lack of cold weather, especially since I can still use my favorite “kitchen” tool, my grill.
In this recipe I use lemongrass for the chicken marinade which imparts such a unique citrusy taste, without about being super assertive. I have a huge lemongrass plant in my backyard that I started with a few stalks I brought home from the Asian Market a year or so ago (all you have to do is stick it right in the dirt and it will grow). I pounded out the chicken so it is nice and thin (just place it between two layers of saran wrap and pound it with a rollin pin) and takes on a lot of the flavor from the marinade. Plus it grills up really fast and gives you more surface area for charred bits. The chicken is muy delicioso by itself, but my choice was to use it to top an Asian inspired slaw with finely chopped bok choy and cilantro. You can use any dressing of your choice, even just a simple soy sauce/rice vinegar/lime juice/sesame oil combo would be good. You could also use my Sesame Ginger Peanut Dressing which would also be nice here.
I hope you’re enjoying your Fall wherever you are!
Have fun!
- 3 medium boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thick
- 4-6 stalks lemongrass, trimmed of ends and rough outside layers
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2-3 Tbsp soy sauce
- zest and juice of one lime
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 4 baby boy choy heads, chopped in thin ribbons (ends discarded)
- 3 cups grated carrot
- 1 red bell pepper chopped in thin slices
- 1 small romaine head, chopped in thin ribbons
- 1 cup roughly chopped cilantro
- chopped peanuts, lime wedges to garnish
- Pulse marinade ingredients until everything in finely chopped. Pour into a large ziploc bag and add pounded chicken. Marinade for 30 mins to overnight in the fridge.
- Meanwhile make slaw by combining all veggies in a large bowl and tossing together with your hands. The dressing is up to you, but a soy sauce/sesame oil/rice vinegar/chili flakes combination would be just fine. I have a recipe for a peanut ginger dressing that I will link to below which would also be nice. Whatever you choose to dress the slaw with, wait until you're ready to serve or it will wilt.
- When chicken is done marinading, remove from the fridge while your grill preheats to high heat. Remove chicken from marinade, and grill for about 3-4 minutes on each side on the grill. The chicken should sizzle nicely when you put it on, and make sure to not disturb it while it cooks on each side so it will get some nice grill marks. Let rest for a few minutes before slicing it and topping the slaw.
- Garnish with chopped peanuts and lime wedges.
- Sesame Ginger Peanut Dressing: http://theseasalt.com/2016/02/24/sesame-ginger-peanut-dressing/
Yum
