41. Sriracha Chicken Skewers with Warm Pineapple Salad and Honey Lime Dressing

I’ve been wanting to make a salad that features the heat of Sriracha sauce, with sweet and sour notes.  I came up with this recipe, which I’ll now admit, was a lot of work for a weeknight!  This is not something to throw together in a rush before dinner.  This is something you plan out on a weekend, and savor with a cold cerveza or a glass of wine, because it is really very yummy.

Marinate your chicken and make the dressing ahead of time.  Then it’s just a matter of grilling the chicken and pineapple and assembling the very simple salad.

Leave the bottle of Sriracha on the table for those who like it HOT!

Ingredients

2 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2” chunks

10-15 wooden skewers

honey, lime & sriracha marinade (recipe below)

2 heads romaine hearts, chopped

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 fresh pineapple, trimmed, cored and cut into chunks

Honey Lime Dressing

1/2 cup mild tasting oil (I used sunflower seed oil)

zest of one lime

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 3-4 limes)

1/4 cup cilantro

2 1/2 Tbsp honey

2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp Sriracha

1/2 tsp each sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Honey, Lime & Sriracha Marinade

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

1 Tbsp sunflower seed oil

zest of one lime

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1 1/2” chunk fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1 1/2 Tbsp Sriracha

1 tsp salt

Several hours or the night before, cut up the chicken and put it all in a gallon ziploc bag.  Then make the marinade by combining all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor.  Process until smooth, and pour over the chicken, seal the bag, smoosh it around, and put in the fridge.

The dressing ingredients are so close to the marinade ingredients, that I recommend you just make the dressing at the same time.  Throw it all in the same blender and process until smooth.  Taste for seasoning and adjust honey, salt and Sriracha as needed.  Then put in a sealed jar in the fridge.

Before prepping the salad (and after the chicken has marinated for at least several hours), you need to skewer and grill the chicken and pineapple.  Do the pineapple first so you’re not getting chicken cooties on it.  Just thread each piece of pineapple onto the skewer until it’s full--nothing fancy.  Then do the same with the chicken.  You don’t want to overcrowd the chicken or it won’t cook evenly.  When you have your skewers ready to go, carefully place them on a preheated grill.  I put the chicken closest to the heat source to ensure it’s fully cooked.  You really only want the pineapple slightly kissed by the fire.   

Cook the chicken and pineapple about 4-5 minutes each side.  Carefully turn with tongs.    Remove from heat, cover with foil and set aside.

Assemble the salad ingredients.  Remove the warm pineapple from the skewers and toss into the salad.  Serve with skewered chicken and drizzle with dressing.

Serves 6

Thanks to Once Upon a Chef for Honey, Lime & Sriracha Chicken Skewers