Guest Author - Cynthia Kilmartin
What is it with kids and eating things on a stick. I have yet to meet a child who doesn't eat something he wouldn't normally touch when it is put on a stick. I made some of these chicken sticks for a birthday party last year – but being one of my 'healthier' choices I wanted to put on the table, I only made one per child. Well, they were gobbled up faster than any of the other more 'traditional' party food. Myself and the other parents were quite amazed.
These are three marinade ideas I use regularly. One of the reasons I like these as they can be adapted very easily to the spicier palates of adults, so you can all eat the same food without missing out on your stronger flavours. Feel free to add chilli or garlic after you have made the children's versions.
You will need 2-3 skinless chicken breasts.
1-2 wooden skewers per person – my kids will eat one each, my husband two – and me … well it depends how well I am sticking to my dieting principles!!
Your choice of marinade – see below.
Put the sticks in water – I use a tall water jug. Some people will tell you that you need to soak the sticks for up to 24 hours. The longer you soak them, the less they will burn during cooking, however these are so quick I don't worry too much about that. I usually put them in before I start cutting the chicken and that stops them 'splintering' which is more important to me than the burning. You can, of course, use metal skewers if you have them.
If the chicken breast still has the tenderloin attached, pull that off. Make a diagonal lengthways slice in the tenderloin. That serves a guide to the size or width of the other pieces. Start at the fattest end of the breast and cut strips across the grain about half an inch thick. Place the strips in the marinade. After about 10 minutes thread the chicken strips onto the skewers, use 3-4 pieces of chicken per skewer.
Grill the chicken sticks for 10 minutes turning 3-4 times or until you know the chicken is cooked through. I always test this by choosing a larger bit and making a small cut to see the middle.
Marinade 1.
1 tbsp of ketchup
1 tsp of honey or maple syrup
1 tsp of peanut butter
1 tbsp of oil
Marinade 2.
half a pot of natural yoghurt
1 tsp of mint sauce
juice of half a lemon
Marinade 3.
2 tbsp of pesto (a good store bought version will be fine)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
With all three marinades, mix ingredients together well then add the chicken strips. Quick easy and so much healthier than chicken nuggets!
