Chicken Satay – for under 300 calories!

Chicken Satay from Pinch of Nom’s debut book had long since caught my eye. However, the long list of ingredients (23), some of them more unusual (Alpro coconut drink and powdered peanut butter), meant that it kept slipping off the menu. But eventually I decided to bite the bullet and I’m so pleased I did – this recipe tastes absolutely gorgeous.

You can save yourself some stress by prepping the satay sauce in advance. The chicken stir-fry part cooks quickly and the rest of the time is spent simmering everything in the sauce. Don’t be tempted to use regular peanut butter – 4 tablespoons of the full-fat variety will bump the calories up considerably! I struggled to find low-fat peanut powder, but eventually sourced it from Asda. I believe Aldi and Waitrose sell it as well. It is expensive for what it is, but it’s genuinely worth buying it for this brilliant dish alone.

The calorie count is just 293 per serving. It will serve 6 generously with a small portion of rice. I didn’t bother because, as regular readers will know, I don’t find rice very nice.

Recipe: Chicken Satay

Calories: 293 per serving

Serves: 6

Book: Pinch of Nom

Prep time: Approx 35 mins

Cooking time: Approx 30 mins

Ingredients:

• ½ onion (sliced)
• 4 chicken breasts (skin and visible fat removed) diced
• 2 medium carrots (finely chopped)
• Handful of broccoli florets
• 100g mangetout
• 1 red pepper (deseeded and sliced)
• 1 yellow pepper (deseeded and sliced)
• 4 spring onions (trimmed and chopped)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• Cooked rice (to serve)

For the sauce:

• Low-calorie cooking spray
• ½ onion (finely chopped)
• 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• Thumb-sized piece of root ginger (peeled and finely chopped)
• 1 red chilli (chopped, leave the seeds in if you like it hotter)
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp ground turmeric
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce or Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbsp granulated sweetener
• 600ml Alpro coconut drink (longlife)
• 4 tbsp reduced-fat peanut butter powder
• Generous pinch of sea salt
• 2 tbsp cornflour

Cost per portion: Approx £1.68 (without rice)

Method: To make the sauce, spray a frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray, place over a medium heat, add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for 4-5 minutes until the onion has softened. Add the dry spices and stir for 1 minute, then add all the other sauce ingredients apart from the cornflour. Simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes, then blitz with a stick blender (or transfer to a blender or food processor, blitz until smooth and return the sauce to the pan).

Turn the heat up to high. Mix the cornflour with a little water, stir it into the simmering sauce until it thickens, then remove from the heat and set aside.

To make the satay chicken, spray a wok with low-calorie cooking spray, place over a high heat, add the onion and chicken breast and fry for 5 minutes until the onion softens. Add the vegetables and the soy sauce and stir-fry for a few minutes, then add the sauce.

Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, making sure the chicken is cooked through. Serve with rice.