The Grill and Easy Thai Style Peanut Sauce

Since I returned to the boat I have to admit I haven't been doing much fancy cooking.  Being by myself it is hard to get inspired to make nice meals for one and by the time I get done working my day job and try to get some work done on the boat, I just don't have the time or energy to cook much. Spaghetti, hamburgers, and even peanut butter and jelly have been on the menu here when I haven't just grabbed something while out running errands.

A couple of days ago I spent some time cleaning and repairing the Magma Grill that came with the boat and I wanted to give it a try.  I had some hamburgers, but I was getting pretty tired of them so I picked up some chicken breasts to throw on the grill.  I bought the smallest package, marinaded them in a pepper and soy sauce mix and cut them up in strips and now I have pre-cooked chicken strips I can use for a variety of dinner options.  And if anyone is interested in the grill, it seems to to run a bit hot...even on it's lowest setting the lid thermometer registered in the medium heat range (like most grills, the lid thermometer isn't very good and this one didn't even have a temperature scale...just blue, yellow, and red for low, medium, and high).

Magma Rail Mounted Grill

But what to do with them.  Back when we were experimenting with recipes that might be suitable for the boat (inspired by The Boat Galley site), I came across a recipe for a simple Thai style Satay peanut sauce (sorry, I don't remember where I found it). While it is not the absolute best peanut sauce I've ever had, it is pretty good and the best part is that it doesn't require a bunch of fancy ingredients like curry pastes and coconut milk that many of the sauces do.  Instead, it is made up of ingredients that you might actually find on your boat.  I altered the original recipe a little bit and here it is:

Simple Thai Style Peanut Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons of creamy peanut butter (I prefer the natural stuff, but any should work)
• 2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce.
• 2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar.
• 1.5 Tablespoons of White Vinegar.
• 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/8 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• Cayenne Pepper to desired spiciness.

Mix the ingredients until they are an even consistency, adding the peanut butter after the liquids and spices are mixed together.  That's it.  Obviously you can alter to your individual taste, I tend to go a bit light on the vinegar and heavy on the peanut butter.  It looks a bit darker than the typical peanut sauce, but the flavor is pretty good for something with common ingredients that can be made in just a couple minutes.

Tonight I took some of the chicken, added some heated frozen broccoli, put it over rice and drizzled on the peanut sauce.  Made for a pretty flavorful and simple dinner.

If you have any simple recipes that you think would work on a boat, please feel free to share in the comments.